BABIL ISF REACTS SWIFTLY TO FIRST ASSASSINATION OF A

C O N F I D E N T I A L HILLAH 000003


E.O. 12958: DECL: 1/17/2019
TAGS: PGOV PINS PINR IZ
SUBJECT: BABIL ISF REACTS SWIFTLY TO FIRST ASSASSINATION OF A
PROVINCIAL COUNCIL CANDIDATE, BUT QUESTIONS ABOUND ABOUT PERPETRATORS

CLASSIFIED BY: Kenneth Hillas, Team Leader, Babil PRT, Dept of
State.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)


1. (SBU) The ISF moved swiftly to respond on January 16 to the
assassination that same day of Haytim Kadum Ali Abd Al-Husseiny,
number two on Da'wa's list of candidates for the January 31
provincial council (PC) election. Within hours a curfew was
imposed on the town of Jabella, where the murder took place, and
both Provincial Director of Police(PDoP) BG Fadhil Raddad and IA
31st Brigade Army Commander MG Abdul Ameer were on the scene
overseeing the investigation.


2. (C) According to Da'wa's party leader Abu Ahmed Al-Basri,
several arrests were made late on January 16 and interrogations
were underway. More arrests were expected to follow as the ISF
developed leads. Al-Basri told the PRT leader that he has
confidence in the ability of the ISF to investigate the killing,
and he indicated there was no need for U.S. assistance.
According to SWAT Commander Col Abbas Al-Jabouri, Al-Husseiny
was implicated in sectarian violence in the Jabella area in

2006.


3. (SBU) Al-Husseiny was the chair of the Jabella sub-distrcit
(nahiya) council. Al-Husseiny was departing in a vehicle from a
meeting with voters when he was shot dead by approximately five
gunmen in another vehicle. Al-Husseiny four bodyguards were
wounded, but only one was in reported to be hospitalized and in
serious condition.


4. (SBU) Jabella's population is mixed Sunni-Shia and it was the
scene of sectarian tensions in 2007 and 2008. Coalition and
Iraqi Forces raided the offices of OMS, ISCI and Da'wa in
Jabella in January 2008 and confiscated weapons and shut down
those offices temporarily.


5. (C) Comment: This is the first assination of a PC candidate
in Babil during the current election campaign, although there
was an unsuccessful attempt on a tribal sheik several weeks ago.
The attack on the sheik, however, may not have been connected
to the provincial election. Whether Badr/ISCI was behind the
assassination of Al-Husseiny remains to be determined, but on
the streets of provincial capital of Al-Hillah the killing of
Da'wa's number two PC candidate is viewed as a signal to Da'wa
and other parties that ISCI's political dominance will not be
ended. Absent some clarification of this question, this
perception could have a restraining effect on the candidates of
the other parties who are being courted by Da'wa to form an
alliance in the next PC. These parties include Sadrists,
communists and independents. The gunning down of the number two
candidate of PM Al-Maliki's party in broad daylight, if not
successfully prosecuted, could have long-term political
repercussions. Unfortunately, the justice system does not have
a stellar track record in prosecuting high-profile
assassinations in Babil. The trial of the accused murderers of
former PDoP Qais Al-Mamouy has beeb postponed four times in the
last three months because the police failed to produce the
defendants on the trail dates in November, December and again in
January. Ironically, the trial venue was moved from Hillah to
Baghdad several months ago at the Babil judge's request because
of pressures being brought to bear on him by unnamed political
figures.

HILLAS

HEATH