VZCZCXRO6209
RR RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK RUEHMOS
DE RUEHAD #0335/01 0351338
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 041338Z FEB 06
FM AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3362
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL//CCJ5//

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 000335 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR S/I, AND NEA/I, NEA/ARPI 
CENTCOM FOR POLAD AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/03/2016 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PINR KPAO IZ AE
SUBJECT: EX-BAGHDAD MAYOR EYEING FUTURE ROLE IN IRAQ 
 
REF: 04 ABU DHABI 1308 
 
Classified By: CLASSIFIED BY AMBASSADOR MICHELE J. SISON, REASONS 1.4 ( 
B) AND (D). 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: During a February 2 meeting in Abu Dhabi, 
former Baghdad Mayor Alaa al-Tamimi told Polchief that Iraq 
"desperately" needs secular personalities and technocrats )- 
like him -- to run the government's ministries.  Al-Tamimi, 
in Abu Dhabi in search of employment, recounted how he was 
ousted as mayor after 16 months' service because Abdelaziz 
al-Hakim, leader of the United Iraqi Alliance ruling Shiite 
coalition wanted one of his own people in the job.  He also 
said he is not willing to associate himself with any 
sectarian party, and is also careful about being seen as an 
ally of former Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi or the United 
States.  He said he cannot return to Baghdad at the present 
time because he fears for his life.  Earlier in the day, 
al-Tamimi told U.S. CENTCOM media representatives in Dubai 
that filling ministerial jobs based on quotas was 
ill-advised, and complained that too much money was being 
spent on security at the expense of development.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (C) Former Baghdad Mayor al-Tamimi met with Polchief at an 
Abu Dhabi hotel February 2.  Al-Tamimi explained that he was 
searching for work in Abu Dhabi, and that he had also applied 
for a senior job at the World Bank.  Prior to taking the 
mayoral job in Baghdad in April 2004 (reftel), he was working 
for the Emirate of Abu Dhabi's planning department as a civil 
engineer.  He was the head of the design committee at the 
Iraqi Atomic Energy authority in Baghdad from 1987 to 1993, 
and assistant professor at the engineering college in Baghdad 
from 1993 to 1995.  He was given permission to leave Iraq for 
Jordan in 1996 for treatment of liver tumors.  He moved to 
Abu Dhabi in 1998 and did not return to Iraq until after the 
war.  Al-Tamimi said that his next job will need to be 
sufficiently important because he wants to maintain his 
status in the eyes of Iraqis who regard him as someone who 
can make a difference in the future.  He said he has no 
immediate plans to return to Iraq because his life would be 
in danger.  He thanked the U.S. Air Force for flying him to 
safety in Amman after he was ousted from office in summer 
¶2005. 
 
¶3. (C) Al-Tamimi, a Sunni originally from Fallujah, said he 
does not want to be seen as a Sunni or as a member of a 
political party.  He confided that he did not even join the 
Baath Party when he worked in Saddam's atomic energy 
apparatus.  Saddam wanted him to become cabinet minister, but 
al-Tamimi refused because he wanted to go back to teaching 
and research at the university, he said.  Then and now, 
al-Tamimi said he felt that he could make a greater 
contribution to Iraq by offering his technical expertise as 
an engineer.  Other like-minded Iraqis are trying to convey 
the same message, he added, citing "tens of Iraqis" with 
secular views.  (Note: He cited the names Seyyar Jameel and 
Hamza Jowhari as examples.  End note.)  Al-Tamimi said he and 
others who share his views have used newspapers and satellite 
television to call on the current Iraqi leadership to invite 
technocrats to take part in the future government.  He said 
he is consulting with friends and associates about organizing 
a conference for secular-minded Iraqis. 
 
¶4. (C) The former mayor said that while he was in office 
trying to run Baghdad's affairs, some of the press backed by 
the United Iraqi Alliance's Abdelaziz al-Hakim were running 
stories denigrating him.  "They claimed I had been with the 
Baath Party, which was not true, and they made other 
accusations," he said.  When he tendered his resignation, a 
senior Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) official, Barham 
Saleh, approached Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a 
Shiite, asking that he intervene to save al-Tamimi's job. 
Al-Tamimi said Jaafari was powerless to do anything against 
al-Hakim.  Asked for his views about Iran's influence in 
Iraq's internal politics, al-Tamimi replied that 95 percent 
of Iraq's Shiites are Arabs.  They believe they should have 
political power since they are the largest sect in Iraq. 
Al-Tamimi opined that only 5 percent of Shiite Arabs are 
being influenced by Iran.  He included al-Hakim in this 
smaller group. 
 
¶5. (C) Al-Tamimi said he continues to resist offers by 
various Iraqi politicians to join their parties.  He said he 
does not want people to think of him as a Sunni, or a member 
of a particular party, or as a friend of the United States, 
all labels which he believes will prevent him from 
accomplishing his mission of helping rebuild and stabilize 
Iraq.  While he knows that will effectively exclude him from 
the political process inside Iraq for the next four years, he 
 
ABU DHABI 00000335  002 OF 002 
 
 
said he will use that time to build support for what he hopes 
is a kind of political comeback.  "We need new people," he 
asserted. 
 
¶6. (C) Earlier on February 2, al-Tamimi met with members of 
the Abu Dhabi-based Iraqi Business Council, a group he helped 
found several years ago, and U.S. CENTCOM's Dubai-based media 
engagement team.  They discussed how the current security 
situation in Iraq was affecting investments by Iraqis and 
foreigners.  Al-Tamimi talked about his experience as mayor 
of Baghdad.  He asserted that as long as the Iraqis pursue 
quotas when filling ministerial jobs and other key positions, 
full-fledged development is not possible.  He said that he 
relayed this to many USG officials he met during his tenure. 
He also complained about the scarcity of money allocated 
toward development, saying most of it is spent on security. 
 
¶7. (U) Iraq TV station is scheduled to air an interview with 
al-Tamimi during the "Let,s Talk" program on February 6.  In 
that interview, he apparently tells the reporter that he made 
a personal financial sacrifice to take the Baghdad mayoral 
job because he believed he could make a difference for his 
country. 
SISON