VZCZCXRO1067
RR RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #3268 3531312
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 191312Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5799
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 003268 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/I 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/18/2019 
TAGS: PREL PGOV ASEC KTER IZ
SUBJECT: SALAH AD DIN: TIKRIT UNIVERSITY CONTINUES TO 
WELCOME AMERICANS DESPITE INSURGENT THREATS 
 
REF: BAGHDAD 3156 
 
Classified By: PRT Acting Team Leader Barbara Yoder for reasons: 1.4 (b 
) and (d) 
 
¶1. (U) This is a Salah Ad Din Provincial Reconstruction Team 
(PRT) message. 
 
¶2. (C) SUMMARY: Tikrit University's president Ali Salah Al 
Jebouri continues to defy insurgents by leading staff and 
students to forge even closer ties with Salah Ad Din PRT 
members and U.S. soldiers, despite Al Qaida's recent 
assassination of his cousin and multiple security incidents 
on campus late last month.  In December, President Ali 
attended a Harlem Globetrotter's basketball game at a nearby 
U.S. military base and requested a basketball game between 
American soldiers and university students.  He presided over 
robust student attendance at a PRT-sponsored Study Abroad 
Center, TOEFL classes, and informal "chats" between students 
and American soldiers.  Al-Qaida appears to be failing in its 
bid to slow the momentum of increasing openness towards 
America at this institution, once a bastion of support for 
anti-American activity.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶3. (C) December 3 saw the assassination of Lt. Col. Ahmed 
Fahel, formerly Salah Ad Din's top counterterrorism official 
and a cousin of Tikrit University President Ali Saleh Al 
Jebouri.  The assassination came soon after multiple security 
incidents on campus: an IED attack, the distribution of 
flyers warning readers to "stay away from the occupier," and 
the discovery of a cache of explosives.  In the recent past, 
Tikrit University was a bastion of support for anti-American 
insurgents.  Yet under President Ali's leadership, the school 
has increasingly welcomed American influence and has sought 
closer relations with PRT Salah Ad Din and U.S. military 
members (see REFTEL). 
 
¶4. (C) President Ali told PRTOffs that he believed 
perpetrators of the latest security incidents on campus came 
from outside the university, and evidence seemed to support 
that claim.  School officials gave PRToff and Brigade liaison 
a tour of an unguarded perimeter wall.  It was immediately 
clear that the wall could be easily scaled, and in some 
places there were tunnels and rocks piled on top of one 
another to assist getting past the barrier.  In addition, 
Iraqi military sources told PRTOffs that an Al Qaeda-linked 
agent was recently arrested by Iraqi Security Forces on 
campus.  He does not appear to be related to the university, 
another indication that the security threats are coming from 
outside the institution.  (Note: To help keep insurgents off 
campus, Brigade is considering the university's request for 
assistance in fortifying its perimeter. End Note) 
 
¶5. (U) President Ali has continued to seek closer U.S. ties 
despite insurgent threats.  This month he attended a Harlem 
Globetrotters basketball game at a nearby American base and 
asked for a basketball game between American soldiers and 
students in the near future.  He also expressed eagerness to 
press ahead with partnership projects with American 
universities. 
 
¶6. (C)  Students and staff have followed their president's 
lead in welcoming Americans.  The dean of Institutional 
Relations, who is the PRT's main interlocutor at the 
University, has reaffirmed all of the university's 
commitments to PRT-led programs.  A group of sixty students 
has continued to attend weekly "chats" with American soldiers 
and attendance at TOEFL sessions has remained robust.  The 
monthly education class taught by the PRT Team Leader was 
postponed as a precautionary measure, but university 
officials stressed their interest in restarting it at the 
earliest date possible.   Although the Iraqi military has 
Qearliest date possible.   Although the Iraqi military has 
increased its security presence on campus, this has not 
dampened students' enthusiasm for American events.  Students 
welcomed additional security measures as being for their own 
protection, an indication that Iraqi authorities are 
responding to their security needs. 
 
¶7. (C) COMMENT:  It is encouraging that extremist elements 
seem to have lost much of the influence they once wielded at 
Tikrit University..  Only a few months ago a letter purported 
to be from Al Qaeda was enough to cause the temporary closure 
of the PRT-supported Study Abroad Center.  Yet the Director 
of the Center told PRToff that it reopened shortly after and 
has been filled with students daily.  END COMMENT 
HILL