PRT DIYALA: AMBASSADOR HILL DISCUSSES IDPS, SUNNI

S E C R E T BAGHDAD 000430 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/I, NSC FOR SAMANTHA POWER AND SCOT BUSBY DEPARTMENT PLEASE PASS TO USAID E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/18/2020 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREF PREL IZ IR SUBJECT: PRT DIYALA: AMBASSADOR HILL DISCUSSES IDPS, SUNNI ARRESTS, AND IRAN WITH GOVERNOR REF: A. 09BAGHDAD3373 ¶B. 09BAGHDAD3065 ¶C. 09BAGHDAD3375 ¶D. BAGHDAD250 ¶E. 09BAGHDAD3155 ¶F. 09BAGHDAD3120 Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRS ROBERT S. FORD FOR REASONS 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (U) This is a Diyala Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) message. ¶2. (C) Summary: Ambassador Hill visited Governor Abd-al-Nasir al Muntsir al-Mahdawi and,separately, local leaders in the village of Al Mujadad on February 8 in Diyala Province. The Governor said the security situation in his province was improving but the new arrest of a Sunni provincial council member added to increasing tensions. The Governor identified water as a primary challenge for Diyala's returning Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and discussed USG support for IDP efforts. The Governor also described the difficulty in creating a desirable and balanced relationship with his Iranian neighbors - a balance he asserts is challenged by both Iranian influence over the Iraqi central government and Diyala's need for Iranian resources, including water and electricity. End Summary. -------------- ELECTIONS AND SECURITY: GOVERNOR HIGHLIGHTS SUNNI ARRESTS -------------- ¶3. (C) Ambassador Hill visited Governor Abd-al-Nasir al Muntsir al-Mahdawi and, separately, local leaders in the village of Al Mujadad on February 8th in Diyala Province. Ambassador Hill asked the Governor about his perceptions on security and the upcoming elections. The Governor said the security situation was much improved in Diyala but commented security forces still needed to eliminate terror cells operating in the province. The Governor thought, under current conditions, the people of Diyala would turn out in high numbers for the elections but cautioned Diyala's security situation could be adversely affected by future events in Baghdad. Additional bombings,heightened political tensions over issues such as the proposed candidate ban, and the recent and ongoing arrests of Sunni leaders, for example,could exacerbate tensions. On this issue, the Governor reported that another Provincial Council (PC) member, Najim Abdullah Ahmad (aka Najim Harbie),a member of the Iraqi Front for National Dialogue (Al-Mutluq) and the lead candidate for the Iraqiyya Coalition for Diyala, was arrested on February 7. (Note: This is the first arrest of a non-Tawafuq Sunni member of the Diyala Provincial Council). Diyala Operations Commander sMG Tarig told USD-N Deputy Commanding General that Najim was arrested as a result of a three-year-old warrant that a Diyala court issued but the Central Criminal Court of Iraq (CCI) issued an additional warrant based on terrorism charges in Baghdad. Tariq noted that Najim will be transferred to Baghdad. -------------- NEW ARREST OF DIYALA PC MEMBER -------------- ¶4. (C) The Governor stated that Najim's arrest was only the latest in a string of Sunni political personalities arrested in Diyala, including former PC member Abd al-Jabbar Ali Ibrahim (IIP),Deputy Governor Muhammad Husayn Jasim (IIP), and many Sons of Iraq (SOI) leaders (reftels). The Governor also asserted that the issuance of high-profile arrest warrants, for example those against Council of Representatives member Tayseer Mashadani (IIP) and her husband, Diyala PC member Hisham Ali Khalaf Hiyali (Tawafuq), were frightening some of Diyala's PC members into not doing their jobs. The Governor said that he addressed this issue Qtheir jobs. The Governor said that he addressed this issue with local and national political and government officials and there had not been any resolution. The Governor reported that Iraq's Chief Judge Medhat al-Mahmoud sent a memo to the appellate court in Diyala stating that all arrest warrants would be examined before being acted upon, but the Governor questioned the credible execution of this message. He added that Baghdad special units came into the province without warning to arrest people. The Governor requested that the USG help address this issue with the central GOI. The Ambassador asked the Governor what PM Maliki might say to him on this issue, and the Governor agreed he may tell the USG to stay out of internal affairs, or that these individuals are terrorists or corrupt. -------------- WATER TOP PRIORITY FOR DIYALA's IDPS -------------- ¶5. (C) In the mixed Sunni-Shi'a village of Al Mujadad in Diyala, Ambassador Hill met with local leaders and and visited homes of two returnee families to discuss their concerns and USG's support in fostering the return of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)(REF E,D,F). Many residents of Al Mujadad were displaced due to insurgent activity in late 2007, but both Sunni and Shi'a families started to return over the past year. The USG assisted these returns through support for UNHCR shelter construction (more than 200 homes have been built),International Organization of Migration (IOM) livelihood grants, and PRT/USF school refurbishment and irrigation projects. During the visit the village mayor, Sa'ad Nehed Aziz (Shi'a),and other residents, both Sunni and Shi'a, highlighted water as the biggest problem facing their agriculture-based community. They expressed great appreciation for the U.S.-supported interventions as a support for returnees, but also noted concerns about shelter design that needed to be remedied. ¶6. (C) When the Ambassador then raised the issue of unmet water needs in the village with the Governor, the Governor acknowledged that water was a top concern for IDPs, as well as for the province as a whole. He said that the water situation had been so bad in Diyala in previous years that people 100 meters from his own offices did not have drinking water. The Governor said that the problem stemmed from the limited water available for purification, and an inadequate number of water purification plants to cover the entire province. He also noted the 2009 budget stymied his ability to address this problem last year. -------------- DISPLACED KHANAQUIN ARABS NEED ASSISTANCE -------------- ¶7. (C) Speaking more broadly on the issue of Diyala's IDPs, the Governor affirmed it was a complex issue. He noted security and services as two necessary components to encourage IDP returns. He said that Diyala's security situation is much improved over previous years, but that IDPs still fear returning to certain areas, including parts of Khalis and areas such as Al Katoon in Baqubah. The Governor said in addition to security concerns, some displaced Arab families faced additional challenges because the Ministry of Displacement and Migration (MODM)did not classify or treat them as IDPS. The Governor described how hundreds of Arab families brought into the Khanaquin area under Saddam Hussein's "Arabization" program thirty years ago were pushed out by Kurdish forces after 2003. He said these families are now scattered around Diyala, often in uninhabitable locations, including old Iraqi Army compounds and he lacked the resources to help them. The Governor noted that these families need assistance, but are not treated as official IDPs nor registered with the Ministry of Displacement and Migration (MODM). He said he has limited resources to help these families and needs additional resources. ¶8. (C) Responding to a question about whether the central GOI had provided Diyala with a promised 37.5 billion Iraqi dinars as part of the GOI's Diyala Initiative to assist IDPs, the Governor said "no", and added he could not trust anything coming from the ministries. The Governor stated, however, that the province was prepared to receive the promised funds. He reported that the provincial committee for IDP Q He reported that the provincial committee for IDP compensation claims was actively reviewing the legitimacy of individual claims. He said he hoped they would finish their work in two weeks, but described how this was a long process in Diyala without the aid of adequate databases or official records to confirm claims. For example, some villagers had to have witnesses sign that they owned a destroyed house because they did not have paperwork to document their claim. -------------- GOVERNOR NOTES DIYALA'S RELIANCE ON IRANIAN RESOURCES -------------- ¶9. C) The Ambassador asked the Governor about his interactions with his neighbors in Iran. The Governor emphasized he was seeking a balanced approach because of Iranian influence over the central government of Iraq and Diyala's reliance on many of Iran's resources. He noted, for example, that Diyala receives most of its electricity from two power lines from Kermanshah province, Iran. The Governor said that he signed a cooperation agreement with his counterpart from Kermanshah this past summer, although he noted that he could not sign a full agreement because that was the purview of the central government. In a recent meeting with three representatives from the Kermanshah region, they discussed the creation of a new border crossing at Mandali; free trade or commercial zones for Iranian companies in Diyala, for example in Muqdadiyah; release of more water from the Al Wand river; and protection of Iranian pilgrims. The Governor noted that most Iranian visitors only pass through Diyala on their way to Karbala or Najaf. The Ambassador asked the Governor his impression of the relative power of the local Iranian government versus what the Governor can achieve under the Iraqi Provincial Powers Law (PPL). The Governor said that the local government in Kermanshah enjoyed more autonomy and power because, despite the fact that key resources were held by the central Iranian government, local Iranian governments had more decentralized control over issues affecting their province, such as water and electricity. -------------- GOVERNOR SAYS DIYALANS POSITIVE TOWARDS COMBINED SECURITY MECHANISMS IN DISPUTED AREAS -------------- ¶10. (C) Regarding Kurd-Arab issues in Diyala, the Governor said security is improving in Khanaquin and tensions were generally resolved through negotiation between the concerned parties. He described how disagreements over education programs in Khanaquin were recently resolved through peaceful discussions. The Governor reported the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (IKR) provided significant funding to Khanaquin, but stressed it was still a district of Diyala. He said he recently asked Provincial Council members to hold official meetings in Khanaquin to emphasize to the people of Diyala that this is part of their province, and to diminish concerns that this is an area too dangerous to visit. The Governor asserted that the combined security mechanisms (CSM) in Khanaquin were a big achievement. He added that there was little opposition to the CSM in Diyala and that even the local media had not emphasized the issue. -------------- DEVELOPMENTS FOR DIYALA'S OIL RESOURCES -------------- ¶11. (C) The Ambassador and Governor also discussed recent developments for Iraq's oil industry. The Governor agreed that oil was central to Iraq's future, and wanted to know why more U.S. companies were not interested in working on oil in Iraq. The Ambassador explained some of the issues involved and advised the Governor to vet any foreign company interested in working in Diyala to make sure they were reputable. The Governor mentioned four oil fields in Diyala, including Naft Khana, and said that no company had indicated interest in these areas during the December bid round. The Governor also mentioned that a joint U.S.-Jordanian venture, Bader, was looking at developing some fields in Diyala, and an American company, Independent Petroleum Land Services, was interested in mapping oil and gas fields. The Governor reported that they forwarded these cases to the Ministry of Oil for review. The Governor said that he has discussed the difficulty of attracting foreign companies to Diyala with the Ministry of Oil and reported that the Ministry of Oil said they would bring the national company to Diyala, but the Governor said he does not think this will benefit the people of the province. FORD