Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09BAGHDAD3181
2009-12-10 15:28:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Baghdad
Cable title:  

SALAH AD DIN'S PROVINCIAL GOVERNOR DISPUTE HEATING

Tags:  PGOV PREL KTER IZ 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO2747
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #3181/01 3441528
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 101528Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5686
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 003181 

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/I

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/10/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL KTER IZ
SUBJECT: SALAH AD DIN'S PROVINCIAL GOVERNOR DISPUTE HEATING
UP

REF: BAGHDAD 2847

Classified By: David C. Stewart, PRT Team Leader, for reasons: 1.4 (b)
and (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 003181

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/I

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/10/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL KTER IZ
SUBJECT: SALAH AD DIN'S PROVINCIAL GOVERNOR DISPUTE HEATING
UP

REF: BAGHDAD 2847

Classified By: David C. Stewart, PRT Team Leader, for reasons: 1.4 (b)
and (d)


1. (U) This is a Salah Ad Din Provincial Reconstruction Team
(PRT) message.


2. (C) Summary. Political maneuvering both in Baghdad and in
the Salah Ad Din Provincial Government (PG) have led to an
increasingly tense impasse in the province. Since the Iraqi
Supreme Court upheld the Salah ad Din (SaD) Provincial
Council (PC) decision to remove its governor in late October
(reftel),the PG has been finding it increasingly difficult
to carry out official business; SaD citizens are becoming
frustrated at the lack of PG action on issues of concern to
them; and violence has started to surface. The death by
suicide bombing on December 3 of the province's top Counter
Terrorism Police Officer, LTC Ahmed Subhi al-Fahel, and an
apparent assassination attempt on the PC Chairman's young
cousin are grim reminders that politics in Iraq can be
deadly. Conflicting actions at the national level have
muddied the question of who is the governor of SaD. The
apparent support by the PM for the Ex-PGov after the Supreme
Court declared him out of office has brought the provincial
government to a standstill. End summary .

- - - - - -
Background
- - - - - -


3. (SBU) Following the Iraqi Supreme Court decision to
uphold the Salah ad Din (SaD) PC,s decision to remove its
governor in late October (reftel the PC adhered to the
Provincial Powers Law (PPL) and appointed Deputy PGOV Ahmed
Abed-al-Jabar as Acting PGOV ("A/PGov") until the PC could
hold a proper election to replace the Ex-PGov. The PC held a
public election with TV cameras rolling to publicize the
transparency of the vote (22 PC members were present; the
rest, from the Iraqi Islamic Party supporting the Ex-PGov,
boycotted). Once the votes were counted, Khalid Hassan Mahdi
Salih won with 20 of 22 votes to become the new PGOV
("PGov-Elect"). The Ex-PGov then lobbied PM Maliki, who
wrote a letter saying the Ex-PGov should remain Governor
until all legal questions were resolved. The resulting power
struggle between the Ex-PGov and PC Chairman who oversaw his
ouster is becoming increasingly tense and bringing the

provincial government to a near standstill.

- - - - - - - - -
Current Situation
- - - - - - - - -

4. (C) The Ex-PGov has refused to leave office, insisting he
is the rightful officeholder. He has surrounded himself with
a security force reportedly larger than that which Saddam
used to travel with, which consists neither of Iraqi Army nor
Iraqi Police. Before he was killed by a suicide bomb last
week, top Counter Terrorism Police Officer in SaD LTC Ahmed
Subhi al-Fahel, told the A/PGov that he recognized some of
the Ex-Gov's bodyguards as members of an insurgent movement
he was pursuing. He had been planning to identify those
individuals to the A/Gov but was killed before he could do so.

5. (C) The PRT has been regarding the A/PGov as the
legitimate governor since the Ex-PGov removal from office was
upheld by the Supreme Court. However, on December 7 the
Ex-PGov arrived uninvited at a Provincial Joint Coordinating
Center (PJCC) event in Tikrit sponsored by a retired IA
General and attended by both the Salah ad Din's 4-1 Brigade
Commander and the PRT, referring to himself as the active
PGov. He imposed himself on the Brigade Commander with
invitations to visit, trying to seek in any fashion
acknowledgment from a Coalition Forces (CF) representative
that he is the PGov.

6. (C) In other signs of tension and attempts at
Qintimidation, about two weeks ago, the PC Chair's 17-year old
cousin was shot and brought to Tikrit Teaching Hospital (TTH)
for treatment. The PC Chair called the 4-1 Commander asking
for assistance. The Brigade Surgeon traveled to TTH,
assessed the patient's condition and immediately brought him
to Contingency Operating Base (COB) Speicher's Contingency
Support Hospital (CSH),saving the boy's life. Initial
reports were that it was an accidental shooting, but the
angle of bullet entry, per the Brigade Surgeon, is evidence
that the near-deadly wound was intentional.

7. (C) The PC Chair, who is currently out of the country, has
told both the 4-1 Commander and the PRT he intends to issue a
warrant for the Ex-PGov's arrest. The issue, however, is
enforcement, and the PC Chair has asked for CF backup
assistance, citing a desire to avoid bloodshed. He told
A/PGOV he wants to go in and arrest the Ex-PGov once he

BAGHDAD 00003181 002 OF 002


returns from Europe, but the A/PGov has cautioned the PC
Chair against this approach given the Ex-PGov's large
security force.


8. (C) The A/PGov has been walking a fine line trying to
carry out provincial business while trying to avoid riling up
the Ex-PGov, since they appear together sometimes at official
functions and have an official working relationship. He has
expressed great frustration over both the embarrassment of
the impasse and the inability of the SaD provincial
government to move forward to address the many issues the
Province faces because Q the standoff. He has said that if
the Office of the Presidency can sign a Republican Decree
acknowlQging the PGov-Elect, Ex-PGov Mutashar would respect
that. But he also believes that politics in Baghdad hasQ
delayed issuance of the decree by the Presidency Council
which would authorize the Governor-elect to take office.



9. (C) On December 9, Presidency Council Secretary General
Nasser al-Ani told Poloff that the Presidency Council had
received a letter in late November from COR Speaker
Samarra'ie requesting that the Presidency Council delay
issuing a decree on the election of the new governor. Ani
said the Presidency viewed the situation as a dispute between
the COR and the SAD PC. He understood that the only issue
for the COR was its belief that the PC Chair did not have the
necessary qualifications to be a PC member (reftel) and
because he had chaired the session which resulted in the
former governor's removal, the removal was invalid. Ani said
the next action would be by the COR but he was uncertain
whether it would issue a resolution or whether it would
pursue the issue in court. Poloff noted the heightened
tensions between the former governor and the PC and
recommended the COR be encouraged to act promptly in
addressing the matter.


10. (C) On the question of whether a Presidency Council
decree was required following a PC vote to remove a governor,
Ani said that since it was customary for such decrees to be
issued following a wide variety of actions that the
Presidency's view was that it was also appropriate following
a removal vote. Ani said this seemed particularly
appropriate since a decree was required to vote to select a
governor.

- - - -
COMMENT
- - - -


11. (C) The atypical support by PM Maliki for the Sunni
ex-governor after the Supreme Court upheld his dismissal is
evidence that politics in SaD often divides along
religious/secular lines, rather than along Sunni-Shia-Kurd
lines. The real issue is who is religious and who is
secular. The PC Chair has upset IIP types by declaring he
will build night clubs in Tikrit once the economy gets off
the ground, for example, but others with a secular view say a
religion-based government would be bad for Iraq. The Ex-PGov
is religious, while the PC Chair, A/PGov, PGov-Elect are all
secular.


12. (C) The delay in resolving the issue of who is the
governor of SaD has meant provincial government business is
not getting done. Retired General Issa told PRToffs that
possessed a letter from the PC Chair to all relevant offices
to not honor anything signed by Ex-PGov, as well as a similar
letter from Ex-PGov to not honor anything signed by the PC
Chair. As such, banks in SaD are not honoring the Ex-PGov's
signature on provincial checks and contractors are not
getting paid for their work. A/PGov told PRToffs that in one
case the Ex-PGov sent some of his security personnel to beat
up a banker for not cashing government checks. Other
important provincial business, such as replacing the DGs for
Qimportant provincial business, such as replacing the DGs for
Health and Education, is languishing because of political
jockeying between the IIP and the rest of the Council. The
result for SaD is a spiral down into PG gridlock, with an
ever increasing chance for violence. End Comment.
HILL