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Viewing cable 09BASRAH47, PRT BASRA: ROUND-UP OF RECENT POLITICAL MEETINGS

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
09BASRAH47 2009-08-16 15:00 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY REO Basrah
VZCZCXRO3702
RR RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHBC #0047/01 2281500
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 161500Z AUG 09
FM REO BASRAH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0904
INFO RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD 0482
RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RUEHBC/REO BASRAH 0942
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BASRAH 000047 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER EAID SOCI PHUM IZ IR
SUBJECT: PRT BASRA: ROUND-UP OF RECENT POLITICAL MEETINGS 
 
BASRAH 00000047  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
1.  (U) This cable provides summaries of PRT meetings held since 
July 13 with various Iraqi officials.  These meetings have not 
been the subject of front-channel reporting.  Complete reports 
of all these meetings are available by email by contacting 
MalloryJL@state.gov with a request for specific reports. 
 
Waleed Ketan (July 13, 2009) 
============================ 
Chair of the Basra Provincial Council Planning Committee 
 
2.  (SBU) Ketan was our initial interlocutor from the PC to 
discuss USG-funded infrastructure projects.  Much of the meeting 
dealt with the status of various proposals and issue of whether 
the PC had to approve all existing and future USG reconstruction 
projects in Basra.  (See Basra 045 for a full report on the 
discussions with Ketan, and subsequent meetings with the PC 
Chair, and other PC members on this issue.)  On the political 
front, Ketan (a member of Iraqi National Accord) saw a steep 
decline in the popularity of national secular parties, and 
thought the upcoming national elections could be a death knell 
for some of the smaller parties. 
 
Sheikh Kadim Abud Shehab Rivat al Gatrani (July 18, 2009) 
============================================= ============ 
Head of Kutarna Tribe and Noble Man Council in Basra 
 
3.  (SBU) The sheikh requested USG assistance in getting 
approval to set up tribal-led security operations along the 
Iraq-Iran border to reduce smuggling and terrorist attacks.  He 
singled out the Abu al-Khasid region as the main smuggling point 
for oil in the Basra region.  We responded that the Iraqi 
government, not the USG, was in charge of border security. 
Sheikh Kadim lamented Iraq's reliance on Iran for even the most 
basic commodities, and criticized Iraqi leaders for not stopping 
Iran and Kuwait from reportedly stealing Iraqi oil through 
diagonal drilling. 
 
Mohammed Mosbeh Wa'eli (July 25, 2009) 
====================================== 
Former Governor of Basra Province 
 
4.  (SBU) Wa'eli faulted the current government for failure to 
follow up on reconstruction projects begun during his tenure and 
slowness in initiating new projects.  He spoke about the 
political ambitions of the PC Chair to unseat the current 
governor and take his place.  He characterized Governor Shiltagh 
as an inexperienced and ineffective politician, and said that 
the central government was unhappy with the performance of the 
Basra government.  The one bright spot Wa'eli saw was the 
inauguration of construction for a massive "Sports City" in 
Basra that he believed would boost employment and attract 
investment. 
 
Shiltagh Abud (July 29, 2009) 
============================= 
Governor of Basra 
 
5.  (SBU) In a bid to attract foreign investment, Governor 
Shiltagh sought USG assistance to help change the negative 
perceptions of Iraq among American business people.  He stated 
that his top priorities were improving essential services 
(electricity water, sewage, trash removal), but said that the 
previous government's commitment to fund a large number of 
projects had drained the government's coffers.  The governor 
took on board information on how the USG might offer assistance, 
and raised the idea of building a lock system on the Shat 
al-Arab waterway to prevent salt water from flowing up river. 
 
Sa'ad Mati Potrous (August 5, 2009) 
=================================== 
Member of the Basra Provincial Council (United Democratic Party 
of the Chaldeans) 
 
6.  (SBU) Potrous, the only Christian member of the Provincial 
Council, has suspended his membership over frustrations that the 
PC is disregarding Christian interests.  He list of grievances 
included lack of PC movement on his two proposals -- funding a 
Christian community center and buying mini-buses to transport 
small children to school -- and its lowering of the percentage 
of government jobs reserved for Christians from 10% to 5%. 
(NOTE:  Christians actually comprise less than 5% of Basra's 
population.)  Potrous told us that unless the PC approved at 
least one of his projects, he would -- with the backing of 
Basra's Christian community -- resign from the PC.  Potrous 
informed us of his interest to serve in the Council of 
Representatives if another reserved seat for Christians is 
created by its expansion. 
 
Major General Mohammed Huweidi (August 6, 2009) 
============================================= == 
Commander of the Iraqi Security Forces in Basra Province 
 
BASRAH 00000047  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
7.  (SBU) Major General Mohammed highlighted the importance of 
attracting foreign investment to Basra to provide employment and 
reduce recruitment of terrorists.  The general attributed his 
recent success in capturing three major terrorist targets to 
good U.S. intelligence combined with good Iraqi Army execution. 
He proposed a program to pay locals for information on terrorist 
targets, and suggested creating a joint committee of the Iraqi 
Army, Iraqi Police, and U.S. Military to improve intelligence 
and targeting operations. 
 
Jalal Thiyab Thijeel (August 10, 2009) 
====================================== 
Secretary of the Movement of Free Iraqis 
 
8.  (SBU) Thijeel informed us of his three-year-old movement to 
improve the political, legal, and social standing of Iraq's 
estimated two-million-strong black community.  He outlined what 
he saw as a pattern of ongoing discrimination based in a 
1400-year history of slavery and treatment as second-class 
citizens.  Thijeel said he was seeking USG and international 
support for his cause, and has had some success in getting his 
message out to the international media. 
NALAND