VZCZCXRO2876
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #2793/01 2901709
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 171709Z OCT 09 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5122
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 002793 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/17/2019 
TAGS: PREL KDEM PGOV PHUM KREF PTER EPET SY IZ
SUBJECT: PM MALIKI ON ELECTIONS LAW, INVESTMENT CONFERENCE, 
JOINT SECURITY ARCHITECTURE, AND OIL 
 
REF: BAGHDAD 2751 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Christopher R. Hill for Reasons 1.4 (b) and ( 
d). 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY: In an October 17 meeting, Prime Minister 
Nouri al-Maliki expressed his concern to the Ambassador about 
the elections law and the timing for its passage due to 
political party manuevering and to continued wrangling within 
the COR over Kirkuk and open vs. closed lists.  The PM 
expressed hope that the Investment Conference would produce 
tangible benefits for Iraq and said that he would direct the 
Iraqi Investment Commission to inform him of any agreements 
that could be signed in his presence.  The PM was optimistic 
on the progress being made to establish a joint security 
architecture in Ninewah Province, but indicated that critical 
details still needed to be worked out.  Finally, the PM 
stated that the GOI was looking to diversify ways it could 
export oil and asked the Ambassador for information on 
whether the waters at the port of Umm Qasr had been 
completely demined because the GOI is planning to lay a new 
oil pipeline in the area.  END SUMMARY. 
 
------------ 
Election Law 
------------ 
 
¶2. (C) The PM stated that he was working hard to prevent 
delay in the national elections scheduled for January 2010, 
but that the Iraqi Islamic Party and Fadhila Party were 
looking for any way possible -- including impeaching the 
Chairman of the Iraqi High Electoral Commission (IHEC) -- to 
postpone the elections in order to buy more time to better 
prepare themselves for the election.  The PM praised 
Parliamentary Speaker Ayad Samarra'i's efforts to calm 
tensions within the Parliament on the election law, but also 
expressed concern that the issues of Kirkuk and open versus 
closed lists might prevent timely passage before he begins 
his Washington program on October 19.  The Ambassador stated 
that he had met with Samarra'i three times over the past week 
and that passage of the law before the PM's meeting at the 
White House would be ideal.  The Ambassador also stated that 
he had met with President Talabani on October 16, who 
indicated that there was movement toward a potential 
compromise on the Kirkuk issue that would be satisfactory to 
the Kurds.  That compromise would be to establish a committee 
to examine voter lists not only in Kirkuk, but in areas with 
significant demographic shifts around the country. 
 
--------------------- 
Investment Conference 
--------------------- 
 
¶3. (C) The PM stated that he was looking to make the Iraqi 
Investment Conference as successful as possible and that he 
intended to focus on economic issues throughout his trip to 
Washington.  He expressed hope that Vice President Biden 
would be able to attend the opening ceremonies in order to 
raise the conference's profile.  The Ambassador responded 
that the VP would most likely be unavailable for the 
conference due to previously scheduled international travel, 
but that it may be possible for the PM to meet him the day 
before the conference and that Secretary Clinton, Secretary 
Locke, and NSA Jones would be at the conference.  The 
Ambassador also said that there was significant interest in 
the conference and that the recent passage of the Iraqi 
Investment Law was very helpful.  Asked whether he was 
planning to sign any major contracts at the conference, the 
PM said that he would direct the Iraqi Investment Commission 
to bring any potential agreements to his attention so that he 
could be at the signing.  The PM also said that during his 
visit he would like to make progress on the question of a UN 
Qvisit he would like to make progress on the question of a UN 
envoy. 
 
--------------------------- 
Joint Security Architecture 
--------------------------- 
 
¶4. (C) The Ambassador told the PM that the plan to establish 
joint security checkpoints in Ninewah Province appears to be 
moving forward.  The PM agreed with this assessment and said 
that the idea is to have joint command and control structures 
between the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and Peshmerga.  The 
PM said that the Ministry of Defense's Ninewah Operations 
Command (NOC) would have supervision over the patrols, but 
that key details of where checkpoints would be located remain 
undecided.  The PM also said that the Ninewah Governor, 
Atheel al-Najafi, had come to him with a different proposal, 
but that he had rejected it saying that the plan proposed by 
MNF-I was better.  (Note: Al Hadba's Sheikh Abdullah al-Yawr 
also submitted a different proposal to General Odierno, but 
it is not clear whether Atheel's plan is the same as Sheikh 
 
BAGHDAD 00002793  002 OF 002 
 
 
Abdullah's.  End note.)  The Ambassador stated that he 
believed that even just the dialogue between the Arabs and 
Kurds in Ninewah on joint security architecture had helped to 
lower tensions and expressed hope that if the joint patrols 
were successful, that the model could be replicated in Kirkuk. 
 
----------------------- 
Oil and Water in Basrah 
----------------------- 
 
¶5. (C) The PM said that the GOI was now looking at ways to 
diversify the channels through which it could export oil 
abroad and was looking to repair a pipeline that traveled 
through Syria.  The PM also stated that the GOI wanted to lay 
a pipeline on the sea floor at the port of Umm Qasr and asked 
the Ambassador whether the port had been completely cleared 
of undersea mines.  The Ambassador promised to follow up on 
the issue, noting that he had been very pleased with his 
recent visit to Basrah and Umm Qasr and was encouraged by the 
focus of Basrah officials on investment and economic 
development rather than just security.  The PM said that the 
GOI was still focused on the water issue in Basrah and was 
looking to purchase additional water treatment equipment from 
a company in California (reftel) in addition to its long-term 
plans of building a dam on the Shat al-Arab to prevent sea 
water from contaminating the fresh water supplies in the 
areas. 
GRAPPO