ARREST OF SUNNI PC MEMBER STOKES CRIES OF ELECTION

S E C R E T BAGHDAD 000454 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/20/2020 TAGS: IZ KDEM PGOV PREL SUBJECT: ARREST OF SUNNI PC MEMBER STOKES CRIES OF ELECTION SHAPING IN DIYALA REF: 10BAGHDAD430 09BAGHDAD049 10BAGHDAD141 09BAGHDAD2937 09BAGHDAD3065 09BAGHDAD3373 Classified By: OPA PLANS CHIEF JOHN M. UNDERRINER FOR REASONS 1.4 (b) A ND (d) ¶1. (U) This is a PRT Diyala message. ¶2. (S/NF) Summary: The arrest of yet another Sunni Provincial Council member, Najim Abdullah Ahmad (Iraqqiya coalition lead for Diyala) on February 7th, is fueling cries that Sunnis are being targeted for arrest by the central government to help shape the election results in Diyala. Reports also indicated the Prime Minister,s dedicated security unit, the &Baghdad Brigades,8 was directly involved with the arrest. The Diyala Operations Commander, the Governor, Provincial Council (PC) members, and the Governorate Elections Officer all voiced concerns that his arrest, despite the serious charges against him, could raise tensions in the pre- and post-elections period in Diyala. Najim,s arrest is notable because while many high-profile Sunni leaders ) both political and Sons of Iraq - have been arrested over the past year, most of these arrests have targeted members of the Iraqi Islamic Party. The arrest of an Iraqqiya coalition member is stoking fears among Sunni political parties and government leaders that the &arrest net8 for Sunnis may be widening. End Summary. -------------- ARREST OF ANOTHER DIYALA SUNNI PC MEMBER -------------- ¶3. (C) Diyala Governor Abd-al-Nasr Al Mahdawi, Provincial Council Chairman Abd-al-Talib Muhammad Hasan and others reported to PRT that on February 7th, security forces arrested Provincial Council member Najim Abdullah Ahmad (aka Najim Harbie),a Sunni member of the Iraqi Front for National Dialogue (the party of Sunni hardliner MP Saleh al-Mutluq, recently disqualified from the elections) and the lead candidate for the Iraqiyya Coalition for Diyala. This is the first arrest of a Sunni member of the Diyala Provincial Council who was not a member of the Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP-Tawafuq). Diyala Operations Commander of the Iraqi Army, sMG Tarig (DOC CDR) reported to U.S. Division North (USD-N) Deputy Commanding General (DCG) on February 8th that Najim,s arrest was a result of a three-year-old warrant issued by a Diyala court and that there was an additional warrant based on terrorism charges issued by the Central Criminal Court of Iraq (CCI) in Baghdad. The DOC CDR also told U.S. military officers the Prime Minster,s office called three months ago to ask why the Najim warrant was not executed. The DOC CDR noted Najim will be transferred to Baghdad, but his present location is unknown. Fakhri Khalif Shihab (IIP) told the PRT that security forces from Baghdad beat Najim,s brother and his security guard during the arrest. Fakhri also reported that security forces from Baghdad tried to arrest Najim prior to the January 2009 provincial elections - when he was the District Commissioner of Muqdadiyah - but were not able to locate him at that time. ¶4. (S/NF) Reporting from the 5th Iraqi Army (IA) division to U.S. military officers (Excerpt from 3-2 SBCT 8 FEB 5th IA SITREP) stated the division detained individuals in connection with five fake Suicide Vests discovered on Feb 2nd and transferred them to the custody of the 56th IA Brigade in Baghdad (formerly known as the &Baghdad Brigade8 which reports directly to the PM,s office). According to the report, two of the detainees, Adnan Khalifah Mohammed and Darwish Ahmad Darwish Al-Jaburi, implicated both Najim and Diyala PC member Ismail Ibrahim Farhan in the facilitation of QDiyala PC member Ismail Ibrahim Farhan in the facilitation of Suicide Vest movement (Note: The PM,s &Baghdad Brigade8 has been behind arrests of Sunni politicians in Diyala, many of which were accompanied by questionable evidence and confessions, and apparently political motivations). Ismail also told U.S. military intelligence that Najim and his bodyguard,s arrest were politically motivated and he was on a new warrant list directed at Sunni politicians in Diyala Province. -------------- INITIAL REACTIONS TO NAJIM,S ARREST -------------- ¶5. (C) Diyala Governor Mahdawi told the Ambassador on February 8th that ongoing arrests of Sunni leaders, including Najim,s, could raise tensions in Diyala during the election period (ref A). He expressed frustration that the central government was not taking real action on this issue and asked for USG assistance to stop politically motivated arrests. The Iraqi Army DOC CDR in his meeting with USD-N DCG predicted additional arrests of Sunni politicians as elections approach and noted his deep concern over the impact on stability in the province. The leader of the national Iraqqiya coalition, Ayad Allawi, condemned the arrest in the press on February 9th and stated it was an attempt to affect the results of the upcoming elections. Diyala,s Governorate Elections Officer (GEO),Amer Mujiid, told the PRT the timing of the arrest just before the elections was suspicious. The GEO asserted the Iraqqiya List was the most popular political entity in Diyala and estimated they could win six of the 13 allocated parliamentary seats. He predicted, however, the arrest of the coalition,s lead candidate (Najim) will now undermine their election efforts in Diyala. The GEO drew a parallel between Najim,s arrest and a wave of politically motivated arrests targeting Sunni leaders just prior to the January 2009 elections (ref B). ¶6. (C) Najim,s arrest was also discussed at Diyala,s Provincial Council session on February 9th. Many PC members heatedly voiced frustration that they were again not informed of an impending arrest and complained about a lack of communication with the Governor, DOC CDR, and the Diyala Police Chief. The Governor and the PC asked the DOC CDR to meet with them on the arrest case on February 10th. The DOC CDR refused to meet them but said he would provide them with a copy of the valid warrant. Echoing other PC members, Mazin Habib Khayzaran (Al-Mutluq) said he was not opposed to legal arrests but that the timing of the case appeared politically influenced. He and others questioned why the warrants were not executed either during the vetting of the PC Council or during his time as District Commissioner of Muqdadiyah. In general, the mood of the PC was anxious and fearful. Multiple members discussed how the threat of arrest affected their work. These comments echoed the Governor,s recent statement that such arrests were disrupting the work of the Provincial Council. -------------- -------------- NAJIM RECENTLY ACCUSED OF ELECTION INTIMIDATION IN DIYALA -------------- -------------- ¶7. (S/NF) PC member Iman Abd al Wahab Mahmud (IIP) and PC member Abdullah al-Jabbouri (Allawi),have reported to PRToffs that Najim was involved with Al-Qaeda during the insurgency and accused him of embezzlement and extortion (Note: Najim,s nefarious activities and connections are backed up by a stream of military intelligence reporting). These same contacts tied his past activities with Sunni insurgent groups as the reasons behind the August 2009 kidnapping and brutal murder of his eight year old son Qutabayah Harbie ) as well as an assassination attempt against Najim directly in July 2009. ¶8. (C) On February 8th, PC member Iman also reported to PRToffs that Najim sent threatening messages to her about her election candidacy. Iman ran as a member of the Iraqi Front for National Dialogue (IFND-Mutluq party) in the January 2009 parliamentary elections, but recently switched to the Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP) for the parliamentary elections. She said she switched parties because Najim and other party members were trying to use their PC positions to take illegal kickbacks. She claimed that over the past month Najim sent her text messages telling her that she would be sorry if she ran with the IIP. Iman alleged that his texts were part of a larger conspiracy of the IFND in Diyala to undermine her candidacy. She claimed that the IFND has a Diyala candidate whose name is very similar to hers and that this person - Iman Ibrahim 'Araf Muhameed - was taking credit for her work while campaigning by using a campaign card with her information and then switching their very similar candidate Qinformation and then switching their very similar candidate numbers. As previously reported, another PC member, Shayma Muhammad Amin Mahmud, also faced intimidation attempts after switching to the IIP ) she subsequently dropped out of the elections (ref C). -------------- -------------- NAJIM,S ARREST LATEST OF MANY TARGETING SUNNI LEADERS -------------- -------------- ¶9. (C) Najim,s arrest is the latest in a string of arrests and outstanding warrants against Sunni leaders in Diyala. As previously reported, the arrests began in 2008 around the time of Operation Benevolent Diyala (reftels D-F). Most recently, Diyala,s Deputy Governor, Muhammad Husayn Jassim (IIP),was arrested in November 2009 and a prominent Sons of Iraq (SOIZ) leader, Haji Nizar Al-Taii, was arrested in January 2010 ) both remain in prison. Additionally, a total of seven Sunni members (all IIP) of Diyala,s 29-member Provincial Council have either been arrested or appear to face outstanding warrants, including: PC member Abd al-Jabbar Ali Ibrahim (arrested May 2009); PC member Dhiyab Saab Khalil (outstanding warrant); PC member Ismail Ibrahim Farhan (outstanding warrant); PC member Hisham al-Hayali (outstanding warrant); Omar al-Faruq Mohammad Mahmud (rumors of outstanding warrant); and Fakhri Khalif Shihab (rumors of outstanding warrant). Hisham,s wife, Council of Representatives member Tayseer al-Mashadani, also has an outstanding warrant and former PC member Dr. Hussein al-Zubaydi was arrested in August 2008 and is still under detention. ¶10. (C) The Governor also recently recited to the PRT a list of other prominent Sunnis, including leaders in the fields of religion and education, who have outstanding warrants or who have been arrested over the past year: Hasan Mullali (head of the Sunni religious office in Diyala - arrested),Fuad al Hazriji (Chief of the Science Foundation ) outstanding warrant),Husam al Azaqi (IIP party leader ) arrested), Abdul Rahman (local Sunni council member ) arrested),the Dean of Diyala University (arrested),the Dean of Education at the Diyala University (arrested) and many other teachers and local leaders. The Governor also underlined that many SOIZ have also been detained and emphasized that they had fought against Al-Qaeda to bring stability to the province only to then be arrested for their efforts. ¶11. (C) Comment: His guilt or innocence notwithstanding, the timing of Najim,s arrest one week before the start of the election campaign suggests it may be politically motivated. Moreover, Sunni leaders perceive his arrest as yet another attempt by the central government to undermine their political power in Diyala. Such actions could undermine the Sunni community,s perception of the credibility and legitimacy of the elections process. The arrests also continue to cast a wide net of fear over the provincial government, and are degrading their willingness to take initiative and govern. End Comment. FORD