VZCZCXRO8715
OO RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHBC #0096 1570521
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O P 060521Z JUN 06
FM REO BASRAH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0373
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RUEHBC/REO BASRAH 0392

C O N F I D E N T I A L BASRAH 000096 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  6/6/2016 
TAGS: PTER PREL ASEC IZ
SUBJECT: VIOLENT ATTACKS IN BASRAH DESPITE STATE OF EMERGENCY 
 
REF: BASRAH 56 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Mark Marrano, Deputy Regional Coordinator, REO 
Basrah, Department of State. 
REASON: 1.4 (b) 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary: Following a suicide bomb at the main 
marketplace in Basrah, a Sunni mosque was attacked leading to 
increased fear among the Sunni population in Basrah.  It is 
unclear exactly who was responsible for either attack, however, 
the State of Emergency declared by the Prime Minister has not 
yet led to additional security for the citizens of Basrah.  End 
summary. 
 
¶2.  (C) On the evening of June 3, a bomb exploded in Basrah's 
main marketplace killing and wounding dozens.  Reports of the 
number of dead and wounded vary.  Basrah's Police Joint 
Operations Center (PJOC), however, reported 27 were killed and 
62 wounded.  The PJOC reported that the device used was a 
propane canister filled with TNT carried by a suicide bomber on 
a motorcycle.  The bomb exploded at approximately 17:55 hours, a 
time when the marketplace would normally be very crowded. 
 
¶3.  (C) A few hours after the bombing, Iraqi security forces 
surrounded a nearby Sunni mosque, the Al Arab Mosque, and a 
firefight ensued between the security forces and the people 
inside the mosque.  Again, reports vary as to which Iraqi 
security forces participated in this operation.  The British 
Consul General (CG) told the Deputy Regional Coordinator that 
members of the Iraqi Intelligence Unit went to the mosque in 
order to apprehend the perpetrators of the marketplace bombing. 
The British CG confirmed reports to the REO that dead bodies 
(numbers vary from seven to nine) remained inside the mosque, 
but said that they had not yet been removed because the mosque 
was sealed and considered a crime scene. 
 
¶4.  (C) In a telephone conversation with REO personnel, Nadim 
Hamid, Head of security for the Basrah Sunni Endowment, said 
that the people gathered in the mosque were not connected to the 
bombing but were Sunnis who had gathered there because they were 
afraid.  Mr. Nadim placed numerous telephone calls to REO 
personnel during the course of the night of June 3 and morning 
of June 4 to request assistance in removing the dead bodies from 
the mosque.  Originally, Mr. Nadim said that members of a 
militia had attacked the mosque and that people were afraid to 
go inside the mosque to retrieve the bodies out of fear that the 
militia members had wired the mosque with explosives.  He 
indicated that no Iraqi Security Forces were present in the area 
and that he was requesting assistance from the British as well. 
Family members of the deceased were subsequently allowed to 
enter the mosque later in the morning.  In a separate telephone 
conversation with Haji Khalaf Al Issa, Head of the Sunni Islamic 
Iraqi Party in Basrah, he told REO political locally engaged 
staff that the Iraqi Army and Police were involved in attacking 
the mosque.  Haji Khalaf Al Issa is also a member of the newly 
formed security committee, which he claimed would be holding a 
meeting on the marketplace bombing and attack on the Al Arab 
Mosqe and would be sending a report to Baghdad. 
 
¶5.  (C) Comment:  It is still unclear exactly who was 
responsible for the attacks on the marketplace and on the Sunni 
mosque.  What is clear, however, is that the State of Emergency 
has not yet provided any additional security on the streets of 
Basrah to prevent attacks.  In addition, there are many groups 
willing to use such attacks as a pretext to carry out sectarian 
violence.  The "iron fist" that Prime Minister maliki alluded to 
in his speech here in Basrah last week, is the only way to get 
the security situation under control.  Unfortunately, it has yet 
to be used.  End Comment. 
 
MARRANO