VZCZCXRO9382
OO RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK RUEHMOS
DE RUEHBC #0017/01 0390757
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
O P 080757Z FEB 06
FM REO BASRAH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0242
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEHBC/REO BASRAH 0259

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 BASRAH 000017 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NOFORN 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  2/8/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PTER PREL IZ
SUBJECT: BRITISH APOLOGIES AND PROMISES MAKE NO IMPACT ON  BASRAH 
PROVINCIAL COUNCIL BOYCOTT 
 
REF: (A) BASRAH 0010 (B) BASRAH 0012 (C) BASRAH 0013 (D) BASRAH 0014 (E) BASRAH 0015 
 
BASRAH 00000017  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Mark Marrano, Deputy Regional Coordinator, Basrah 
Regional Embassy Office, Department of State. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
 
¶1.      (S/NF) Summary:  On February 07, the Deputy Regional 
Coordinator (DRC), attended a meeting of Basrah Provincial 
Council (PC) members, the UK 7th Armored Brigade Commander and 
the British Consul General.  The meeting was organized by the 
British at the Basrah Palace Compound to provide information to 
the PC members so that they would consider ending the boycott 
(see refs.)  The British did provide some evidence on the 
detainees and promised to release them into the Iraqi judicial 
system as soon as possible.  The PC members though were adamant 
that the detainees be released immediately and that more 
detailed evidence is presented of their crimes.  The meeting 
ended with no resolution of the current boycott.  However, after 
the meeting, the British discussed ways to put pressure on the 
PC to lift the boycott and expressed hope for a resolution in 
the following week. End Summary. 
 
¶2.      (S/NF) The meeting included the Chairman of the Provincial 
Council, Mohamed H. H. Al Obadi, the Deputy Provincial Council 
(DPC) Chairman Nusaeef Jasim Ali and the Head of the Security 
Supervisory Committee of the Provincial Council, Mr. Hakim al 
Meahee.  The 7th Armored Brigade Commander, Brigadier General 
(BG) Patrick Marriot and the British Consul General (CG) James 
Tansley represented the British side.  The DRC had been asked to 
attend by both the Provincial Council members and the British as 
a mediator and an observer. The Basrah Governor, Mohammed Al 
Waili, was also invited but declined to attend.  However, BG 
Marriott spoke to the Governor on the phone prior to the meeting 
to brief him.  According to BG Marriott, the Governor shared his 
desire to have the situation resolved and the boycott ended 
immediately. 
 
¶3.      (S/NF) BG Marriott started the meeting with a slide 
presentation on the UK plans for reforming the Iraqi police in 
Basrah.  Mr. Hakim pointed out that the plans showed agreement 
by the Ministry of Interior, but no consultation with the Basrah 
Provincial Council. BG Marriott acknowledged this and regretted 
that the Provincial Council was not included in the initial 
plans.  BG Marriott then presented evidence on why the two Iraqi 
Police officers were arrested by the British military.  The 
crimes included acceptance of bribes and attacks on Coalition 
Forces.  However, Chairman Obadi stated that the evidence was 
not specific enough and did not include any details. CG Tansley 
stressed the legal basis for the arrests and pointed out that 
the current security situation called for the British military 
to take action.  Mr Hakim responded that the Provincial Council 
was ignored and not consulted prior to the arrests.  Chairman 
Obadi added that the manner, in which the arrests were done, 
proved unacceptable to the tribes.  He stated that the British 
did not understand the culture in which they were operating. 
 
¶4.      (S/NF) With regards to this UK cultural misunderstanding, 
the DRC has heard the same accusation from several tribal 
sheiks.  Apparently, the British military arrested the two 
individuals in their houses at night and surprised unveiled 
women in those houses.  For the tribal members, this was an 
insult that could only be remedied by the immediate release of 
the detainees.  In the meeting, BG Marriott apologized for the 
manner in which the individuals were arrested, but stressed that 
it was done to minimize casualties that may have resulted if 
they had tried to take the individuals during the day with their 
armed 30 bodyguards.  BG Marriott also pointed out that the 
boycott enjoyed very little support among the local population 
as shown in the demonstration of only 300 people last week. 
Chairman Obadi stated he could call on all one million people to 
demonstrate tomorrow if that would convince the British to 
release the detainees. 
 
¶5.      (S/NF) BG Marriott stressed that the Iraqi Police (IP) 
were to begin a training program on Feb 10 for which around USD 
300,000 had been allotted.  He said that the boycott would 
prevent the IP from starting the program on the designated date 
and that the money would therefore be shifted elsewhere. The DRC 
urged the Provincial Council members to allow the training to 
start on time, however, Chairman Obadi reiterated that the 
boycott would not be lifted until the detainees were released. 
DPC Nussaif added that the British military also held 41 other 
detainees with little or no evidence and these also had not been 
released to the Iraqi judicial system. 
 
¶6.      (S/NF) The meeting, which lasted almost three hours, did 
little to end the boycott.  As a result, after the meeting BG 
Marriott and CG Tansley discussed ways to apply pressure on the 
 
BASRAH 00000017  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
Provincial Council to lift the boycott.  It was decided that 
they would announce at a press conference that because of the 
boycott, the UK was shifting all reconstruction and program 
money to Maysan Province.  The goal would be to show the local 
Basrah population how their elected officials are losing sorely 
needed cash to a neighboring province. However, BG Marriott 
mentioned that this might not have any effect since he believed 
that the Chair of the Anti-Corruption Committee of the Basrah 
Provincial Council, Khazl Jaloob Falih Abu Salam, may be the 
real driving force behind the boycott. Abu Salam (Fadillah 
Party) has a history of anti-British rhetoric and sentiment. 
 
¶7.      (S/NF) Comment:  The marathon meeting produced little in 
terms of finding a resolution to the current boycott.  However, 
it was successful in highlighting the stubborn position of the 
Provincial Council. Despite several apologies and a show of 
evidence from BG Marriott plus a promise of detainee release in 
the near future from CG Tansley, the PC members kept repeating 
the same demands. There may be another underlying reason for the 
PC stubbornness, which may be linked to the fear they have of 
the tribal shieks and/or PC member Abu Salam.  In fact, BG 
Marriott mentioned to the DRC that on the night of February 7, 
the Governor told him he was afraid he was going to be attacked 
by the tribes and was going to call on the Iraqi Army for 
protection. As it turned out, his fear never materialized and 
the Iraqi Army was never mustered. End Summary. 
MARRANO