PRT ANBAR: PROVINCIAL ELECTION PREPARATIONS

S E C R E T BAGHDAD 000309 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/05/2020 TAGS: PTER PGOV ASEC PREL EAID KJUS KCRM KDEM IZ SUBJECT: PRT ANBAR: PROVINCIAL ELECTION PREPARATIONS CONTINUE APACE Classified By: OPA Director Greta Holtz for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (U) This is a PRT Anbar (Ramadi) cable. ¶2. (S) SUMMARY. On 25 January, the Anbar Governorate Elections Officer (GEO) briefed the military, police and civilian leadership of Anbar on the Independent High Electoral Commission's (IHEC's) election-day plan. Additionally, Iraqi police army leadership discussed election security measures. The meeting appeared to reflect a growing effort by Iraqi Army (IA),Iraqi Police (IP) and provincial government figures to cooperate ahead of the 2010 national election, in spite of past disputes. END SUMMARY. ¶3. (S) The Anbar Operations Center (AOC) meeting is a weekly coordination meeting attended by the Governor, the PC Chairman, AOC Commander Staff Major General Abd Al-Aziz Mohammed al-Mufriji, Provincial Chief of Police (PCOP) Brigadier General Baha Husayn al-Karkhi, the Division Commanders for the 1st and 7th IA Divisions, the city Chiefs of Police, the commander of the Abu Risha Brigade, and representatives from the Iraqi intelligence community. U.S. forces (USF) and PRT representatives attend as observers. ELECTIONS SECURITY COMMITTEE ESTABLISHED ======================================== ¶4. (S) On 25 January, Anbar GEO Khalid Rejab briefed civilian, police, and military leadership on IHEC's election-day plan during the weekly AOC meeting. As MG Aziz is in Turkey for heart surgery, the acting AOC Commander and Commander of the 7th IA Division, MG Abdullah Mohammad Badir Al-Jaburi, chaired the meeting. Acting Governor Fo'ad Jitab al-Karbouli also attended. ¶5. (S) The Executive Officer of the 7th Iraqi Army Division's 29th Brigade, Colonel Qassim, began the meeting with a briefing on the election security plan. He warned that the three main elements of the elections process - IHEC, security forces, and the voters themselves - had clearly defined roles and must not interfere with each other. To ensure this the provincial government will establish an elections security committee headed by MG Abdullah, BG Baha, Khalid Rejab, and representatives from the Ministries of Transportation, Health, and Justice. MG Abdullah stressed that IP and IA units will have clearly defined duties and plans, which will be recorded and distributed to every member of the committee. BG Baha then interjected that each polling site is unique and features an individually-tailored plan. Both MG Abdullah and COL Qassim stressed the importance of ensuring that IP do not interfere with voting. (NOTE: During the 2009 provincial elections, there were unsubstantiated accusations that some IP units intimidated voters and broke into polling stations and interfered with ballot counting. END NOTE) ELECTIONS SECURITY CALENDAR OUTLINED ==================================== ¶6. (S) BG Baha then outlined the major tasks that the IP must accomplish before the election, including maintenance and repair of vehicles and equipment. He said the polling centers had been designated as "stable," "less stable," and "unstable." At a minimum, ten IPs will be posted at every polling station. Those sites identified as unstable will have many more police. He indicated that IP will directly guard the polling sites while IA units will provide a larger concentric ring of security, followed by an outermost ring of security provided by "civil defense forces." MG Abdullah mandated three security rehearsals to be conducted at the AOC on February 2, February 19, and February 26, each one followed by an after-action review. NOTE: In the past, the Qfollowed by an after-action review. NOTE: In the past, the Anbar GEO has briefed the outermost ring of security as the USF standby mission to assist the IA and IP if requested. PRT is not aware of the composition or disposition of the "civil defense forces" mentioned by BG Baha. END NOTE. GEO OUTLINES ELECTION DAY PLAN ============================== ¶7. (S) Anbar GEO Khalid Rejab said there are 14 seats in the Council of Representatives allocated to Anbar, four of which must be filled by women. Twenty-one coalitions are vying for those 14 seats. Voting will take place at 312 polling stations, whose selection was coordinated with the AOC and representatives from each of the participating political parties. An additional seven polling stations have been identified for internally-displaced persons (IDP). On March 4, the special election in Anbar will include all IA & IP voters, whether from Anbar or not, in addition to special needs voters. (COMMENT: In previous engagements, Khalid Rejab said that he was unable to enlist any support or coordination from the IP, and often commented that he wished the IA was responsible for security. However, he was much more optimistic in our last meeting with him, indicating that, although he had security problems, he now had a liaison at the AOC and the IP were cooperating on security. He began his brief by specifically thanking BG Baha and the IP. PRT does not know if this is a direct result of BG Baha's appointment as interim PCOP. END COMMENT.) ¶8. (S) Khalid explained that ballots will be counted at the election centers in the presence of observers from each political party. IHEC has hired 120 employees to count ballots at the election centers. The GEO will produce a report of the votes cast at each polling place. Four copies of the report will be produced: one for the polling site, one for the Provincial Government, one for the GoI and one to be publicly posted. Khalid stressed that each voter will only get one vote and will not be able to cast a ballot for his spouse or other family member. He closed by stating that USF will not be allowed into the polling centers, because some entities will claim they are trying to manipulate the election or show favor to particular parties. "THE IP HAS BEEN INFILTRATED BY THE INSURGENCY" ============================================= == ¶9. (S) Acting Governor Fo'ad stated that there are two outstanding security issues that must be addressed. First, insurgents are targeting the police and something must be done to stop it. Second, he expects some IP will try to disrupt the elections, because he believes that the IP have been infiltrated by the insurgency. Fo'ad asked BG Baha to set up a quick reaction force and run concertina wire around polling places to protect them. BG Baha concurred, but Khalid was against the use of concertina wire, suggesting that the sight of it would discourage voters from going to the polls. ¶10. (S) An Iraqi intelligence officer closed the meeting with a short list of suggestions about curfews and voter transportation to and from polling sites. He warned that Al Qaeda in Iraq will likely attempt to disrupt the elections by using peddler's carts and disabled Iraqis as suicide bombers, in some cases hiding explosives in their prosthetics to sneak them past checkpoints. The PCOP pointed out that if the scanners were removed from their current locations at checkpoints in order to catch these would-be bombers at the polling stations, the cities themselves would be left unguarded, and there are simply not enough of them to go around. HILL