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.

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Maliki Investigating Iraqi Officials
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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.

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Distrusts the Ba'thists, Kurds
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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

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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."

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Dismissive of Sadrist Threat
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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.

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Comment
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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