DA'WA TANZIM CLAIMS MALIKI IS TARGETING CORRUPT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 000789 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/22/2029 TAGS: PGOV PREL IZ SUBJECT: DA'WA TANZIM CLAIMS MALIKI IS TARGETING CORRUPT IRAQI OFFICIALS AND WORRY OVER BA'THIST THREAT REF: A. BAGHDAD 000533 ¶B. GMP20090307649002 ¶C. GMP20090315648002 Classified By: PMIN Robert Ford for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary. During a series of recent meetings, Da'wa Tanzim members of parliament said that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is investigating high-ranking Iraqi officials involved with violence and corruption and voiced concern over a lingering threat from Ba'thists who seek to return to power. They also expressed strong antipathy toward the Kurds -- a sentiment we hear consistently from Arab contacts across the political spectrum -- and said that Sadrists pose a marginal threat to Iraq and they should be brought back into government. With support for Maliki weakening among some Shi'a, such as the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI), Da'wa Tanzim remains a political partner for the PM. Da'wa Tanzim ran under Maliki's State of Law coalition during the January provincial election and its members probably have access to debates within the Maliki government. While we cannot confirm Da'wa Tanzim's claim that Maliki is investigating high-level Iraqi officials, we have also heard these rumors from other sources in parliament. Regardless of the truth, it underscores the level of paranoia among Iraq's political class. End summary. -------------- Maliki Investigating Iraqi Officials -------------- ¶2. (C) Da'wa Tanzim in 1999 split from Maliki's Da'wa party over Tanzim's desire to identify more closely with the Iranian government. In addition to running together in the recent provincial elections under the "State of Law" list, the two parties have found common ground since their split, with Tanzim supporting Maliki through its 13 seats in parliament and its three cabinet positions (the Education, Trade, and State for National Security Ministries). ¶3. (C) In March 12 meeting with Poloff, Da'wa Tanzim bloc leader Abdul Karim al-Anzi said Prime Minister Maliki had told him the government has evidence linking some Iraqi officials to violence and corruption in Iraq. According to Anzi, Maliki said he would refrain from arresting these individuals so not to disrupt national unity. When pressed what officials might be implicated, Anzi said he did not wish to say and that the USG should "ask Maliki." Anzi said these Iraqi officials are "higher than MP Muhammad al-Dayni." (Note. The Iraqi government has issued an arrest warrant for the Sunni Arab MP al-Dayni, who since late February has been, missing, ref A. End note.) ¶4. (C) Anzi said recent suicide bombings in Baghdad were designed by unnamed parties to achieve their political objectives in parliament and to undermine the Maliki government's argument that security in Iraq has improved. Anzi refused to clarify the alleged link between parliament and the bombings but did say the amendments to the budget that passed on March 5 -- changes spearheaded by the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI),the Iraq Islamic Party (IIP) and the Kurdish Alliance -- were also designed to embarrass Maliki. -------------- Distrusts the Ba'thists, Kurds -------------- ¶5. (C) Anzi then warned of a continued threat from Ba'thists, who he claimed were determined to regain power and who are receiving assistance from Syrian intelligence. These opinions were echoed by Anzi's Da'wa Tanzim colleague Abdul Hadi al-Hassani during a March 10 meeting with Poloff. Hassani ranted about the Ba'thist "snakes" trying to regain power by manipulating the Iraqi people and government. Qpower by manipulating the Iraqi people and government. Hassani claimed former members of Saddam Hussein's regime are waiting to infiltrate Iraqi institutions and launch a coup. Anzi and Hassani acknowledged that the results of the January 31 provincial elections demonstrate Ba'thists have little support among the Iraqi people. Anzi, however, praised PM Maliki's recent public statements calling for reconciliation (ref B and C),and said allowing lower-level Ba'thists back into society was acceptable. Those who were criminals, Anzi said, should not be trusted because they will seek to undermine the new Iraq. Hassani complained that Maliki's recent (alleged) overtur es to former Ba'th members is too much, too soon. ¶6. (C) Expanding the party's anger northward, Kasim al-Sahlani, another Da'wa Tanzim MP and a leader of the party, told Poloff on March 3 that the Kurds were taking too much from the Iraqi nation, evidenced by, he claimed, the BAGHDAD 00000789 002 OF 002 Kurds' higher standard of living compared to the south. The Kurds criticize Maliki's way of governing, Sahlani said, but Masoud Barzani is a "little dictator" in the Kurdistan Regional Government. Sahlani said the U.S. should not try to resolve disputes between the KRG and GOI before national elections. To help solve outstanding disputes, Sahlani said Kurkuk should become a "federal region." -------------- Dismissive of Sadrist Threat -------------- ¶7. (C) Anzi, Hassani and Sahlani dismissed the threat posed by the Sadrists and Shi'a militias. Anzi, who said he is trusted by Sadrist officials, reported that his Sadrist colleagues told him in March they recognize that giving up ministries by withdrawing from government and resorting to violence were mistakes. Hassani said Jaysh al-Mahdi's violence after the fall of Saddam was a natural response to living under years of Sunni oppression. The Sadrists were manipulated by outsiders and encouraged by the lawlessness that accompanied the fall of the regime, Hassani said. Sahlani said the Sadrists' popularity is waning and its residual support gain from its anti-U.S. stance will decline as the Iraqi people see the U.S. fulfill its promise to leave Iraq. "I too will become America's enemy" if the U.S. stays in Iraq beyond 2011, Sahlani said. All three said now is the time to bring the Sadrists back into the Iraqi state and that leaving them isolated would cause them to maintain their rejectionist views. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶8. (C) We have no confirmation Anzi's claim that PM Maliki is investigating high-level Iraqi officials, although other members of parliament have made similar accusations. The arrest warrant issued in February for MP Muhammad al-Dayni probably has stirred paranoia that the government is targeting its political rivals. Anzi's claim is troubling given his stature in parliament and his party's electoral alliance with Maliki. If no investigation exists, Maliki might be exploiting Da'wa Tanzim's lingering suspicion of Sunnis to maintain their loyalty in parliament. ¶9. (C) As Maliki since 2006 has lost some political support among his fellow Shi'a such as ISCI, Da'wa Tanzim, along with some Shi'a independents, have moved closer to him. Da'wa Tanzim's constituency -- pro-Iran, conservatively religious but not clerical, and suspicion of "Ba'thists" (which often translates to powerful Sunnis) -- could temper Maliki's nationalist overtures and potential alliances with Sunni parties. End summary. BUTENIS