VZCZCXRO6734
PP RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHMOS
DE RUEHIHL #0026/01 0541636
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 231636Z FEB 06
FM REO HILLAH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0549
INFO RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD PRIORITY 0534
RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RUEHIHL/REO HILLAH 0596

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HILLAH 000026 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KISL PINR IZ
SUBJECT: THOUSANDS ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL PROTEST MOSQUE BOMBING; 
SADRISTS BLAME U.S., AL-SISTANI PREACHES CALM 
 
HILLAH 00000026  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: Iraqis across the South Central region took to 
the streets February 22, angrily protesting the bombing of the 
Al-Askariyah Mosque in Samarra. Reportedly spontaneous at first, 
the demonstrations were soon spurred on by mosque exhortations 
and organized by Shi'a government officials, political parties 
and militias. Sadrists blamed U.S. forces and Ambassador Zalmay 
Khalilzad for the bombing, and rumors spread from Samarra to 
Najaf that U.S. forces were the culprits. Grand Ayatollah Ali 
Al-Sistani and other senior Najaf clerics declared a period of 
mourning and preached calm, Iraqi Police scrambled to maintain 
order and protect Sunni mosques, and the demonstrations 
reportedly remained mostly peaceful. Protesters attacked a Sunni 
mosque in Karbala and killed a Sunni in Al-Hillah. There were 
unconfirmed reports of the killing of another Sunni in 
Diwaniyah. Contacts reported that demonstrations would likely 
continue February 23. End summary. 
 
NAJAF CLERICS CALL FOR CALM, ARMED SADRISTS ASSEMBLE 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) By midday February 22, Najaf Iraqi Police (IP) Chief 
Abdul Abbas Mu'adal reported that "thousands" had already 
gathered in downtown Najaf for a demonstration set to begin  at 
3 p.m. and that the city was "boiling." The Provincial Council 
issued a statement denouncing "the crime" and declared a 
seven-day mourning period and the closure of government offices 
for three days. Local contacts reported angry crowds gathering 
around the Old City home of Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, and 
mosques, ambulances, and cars with loudspeakers called for more 
people to gather near Sistani's home. 
 
¶3. (SBU) According to press reports, after an afternoon meeting 
between senior Najaf clerics Sistani, Shaykh Ishaq Al-Fayadh, 
Shaykh Bashir Al-Najafi, and Sayid Mohammed Saeed Al-Hakim, 
Sistani and Al-Hakim each issued statements condemning the 
bombing and announcing a seven-day mourning period. Sistani 
instructed the people to remain calm, refrain from attacking 
Sunni holy places, and to demonstrate peacefully. Ammar 
Al-Hakim, the son of Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution 
in Iraq (SCIRI) leader Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim, led the 
demonstration in downtown Najaf. Rumors reported by Najaf 
contacts say that busloads of Mahdi Militia began traveling to 
Samarra, and that the U.S. is responsible for the attack on the 
Al-Askariyah Shrine. The rumor states that gold pieces of the 
shrine's dome were found on rooftops all over the city of 
Samarra, a level of destruction that could only have been 
accomplished by American munitions. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Unarmed members of the Mahdi Militia blocked all roads 
leading into Najaf, and hundreds gathered outside Moqtada 
Al-Sadr's house. By evening, local staff reported that about 500 
heavily armed Mahdi Militia members, carrying AK-47s and 
rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), assembled around Sadr's house. 
Militiamen blocked all roads feeding downtown Najaf's 
Revolutionary Square, and banners hung there read, "Take Revenge 
for the Imam Mahdi" and "Yes to Islam, No to Saddam." Sadrists 
gathered elsewhere, in the city's Al-Judodah Quarter, 
anticipating another demonstration to continue towards the Old 
City and Sistani's home. Local staff reported that shaykhs from 
the Bani Hassan and Al-Ghazali tribes met at Sadr's house with 
Sahib Al-Ameeri, the director of Shaheed Allah, an organization 
affiliated with Sadr. Local staff heard unconfirmed reports of a 
grenade attack directed at a house near Sadr's that wounded two 
bystanders. 
 
TWO PROTESTS ROIL KARBALA; SADRISTS, SARKHIS BLAME U.S. 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Exhorted by announcements from the twin shrines of 
Imams Hussein and Abbas and other mosques, protesters gathered 
after midday prayers on February 22 in downtown Karbala. 
Contacts variously reported "800 to 1,000," and "thousands" of 
demonstrators, including students, government employees and 
police. Mahdi Militia members also joined the demonstration. 
Governor Aqeel Al-Khaz'ali declared a three-day mourning period 
and the closure of all shops and government offices. Karbala 
Deputy Provincial Council (PC) Chairman Abdul Al Ali Yasseen 
related that protestors chanted that the bombing was the result 
of collaboration between U.S. forces and terrorists. Some 
reportedly called for jihad and revenge. Both the Governor and 
the PC Chairman, Shaykh Aqeel Fahim Hussein, spoke at the 
protest. The Governor reportedly counseled self-discipline and 
warned protestors that the bombing was meant to foment a civil 
war. Deputy PC Chairman Yasseen said that political leaders and 
clerics were able to maintain calm. IP Chief Colonel Razzak Abed 
Ali said that the police monitored the protest, maintained the 
peace and were heavily deployed throughout the city. The U.S. 
military reported that Sadrists threw rocks at American Humvees 
parked outside the Karbala Governorate Center. 
 
HILLAH 00000026  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) A second protest, larger than the first, began around 4 
p.m. between the Hussein and Abbas Shrines, and lasted for about 
an hour and a half, local contacts reported. The Governor, IP 
Chief, and several PC members were present. Mahdi militia 
members and followers of radical Shi'a cleric Mahmoud Al-Hassani 
Al-Sarkhy joined the protest in large numbers, chanting "No, no, 
America." Protestors carried banners reading, "We all sacrifice 
ourselves for our Imams," and "Let us get our Prophet's 
revenge." Local staff reported that Sadrists and Sarkhis blamed 
the attack on the U.S. and "Zionists" hoping to ignite a civil 
war. Rumors also offered that U.S. forces shelled the shrine, 
reasoning that Sunnis have lived near the mosque for hundreds of 
years, and if they had intended to attack the shrine they would 
have already done so. 
 
¶7. (SBU) What is reportedly Karbala's only Sunni mosque was 
attacked by protestors, although accounts conflicted about the 
nature and extent of the attack. IP sources reported that 
demonstrators attacked the mosque but were turned away by an IP 
SWAT team. Another contact related that the Governor went to the 
mosque to help secure it. A third account, likely the most 
accurate, maintained that a group of angry young men broke into 
the mosque, and broke doors, windows and furniture before being 
stopped by neighboring shopkeepers. 
 
MASSIVE PROTESTS, ONE KILLING, CONCERN BABIL OFFICIALS 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Demonstrators from across Babil travelled to Al-Hillah 
throughout the day February 22 for a protest that lasted until 
late afternoon, local contacts and Babil officials related. 
Mosque loudspeakers announced the protest, and Iraqi Police and 
demonstrators both blocked major streets leading into the city, 
police contacts said. Some protestors reportedly chanted, "Down, 
down, Israel." One local contact reported seeing armed Sadrists 
among the throng. Babil PC Chairman Mohammed Ali Masoudi said 
that he was concerned about the province's ability to maintain 
order, but that things were "so far under control" as of 
mid-afternoon. He said that PC members had been calling 
representatives of the Shi'a religious parties, urging calm and 
seeking assurances that their members would not attack Sunni 
mosques. Masoudi also reported rumors that Sadrists were forming 
groups to travel to Samarra. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Police officials, concerned about the safety of Sunni 
mosques in Al-Hillah, detailed police and SWAT teams to protect 
them. Babil Deputy Police Chief Colonel Abbas Al-Jobory reported 
that two police pick-up trucks and ten SWAT team members had 
taken positions guarding each Sunni mosque. IP Chief General 
Qais Hamza Aboud Al-Mahmori reported that he would personally 
lead patrols around the Sunni areas of Al-Hillah, both to 
protect the Sunni areas and, he said, to be on guard against 
possible attacks by Sunnis against the demonstrators. In the 
evening of February 22, local contacts reported that two armed 
men went to the home of a Sunni ex-Baathist in Al-Hillah and 
shot and killed the man. 
 
ONE REPORTED DEATH, DRIVE-BY ATTACKS IN DIWANIYAH PROTESTS 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) Crowds estimated by some local observers to number 
into the tens of thousands surged through downtown Diwaniyah 
beginning at midday and lasting late into the afternoon. 
Diwaniyah Governor Khalil Jalil Hamza Al-Hamdawi called the REO 
just before noon and advised REO staff to cancel a planned visit 
to the Governorate Center that day, explaining that it could 
"exacerbate the situation." (Note: The Governor volunteered to 
visit the REO instead, when he had a chance. End note.) In an 
interview, a Sadrist official told a Diwaniyah journalist that 
U.S. Ambassador Khalilzad, Baathists, and takfiris had arranged 
the attack. A local contact reported that an angry mob killed 
one Sunni and injured another, and that there were RPG attacks 
against individuals in Sunni neighborhoods. An IP source 
confirmed the RPG attacks and blamed the Mahdi Militia. (Note: 
The killing has not been independently confirmed, although the 
source e-mailed photos of a mob containing armed Sadrists 
beating a man as a policeman and an Iraqi soldier stood by. End 
note.) 
 
¶11. (SBU) Demonstrators closed most of the roads leading into 
the city, a local contact reported. Mosque loudspeakers blared 
throughout the demonstration and protesters chanted "No, no, no 
to America. No, no, no to terrorism. No, no, no to 
transgressions." Sadrists and Sarkhis reportedly made up a large 
contingent of the protest, and carried banners that read, "We 
deny this cowardly act which was carried out by the atheists, 
who are led by the Occupation Forces." Women and children joined 
the protest, a contact related. An IP source reported that 
police had spread out around the demonstration and across the 
city to maintain peace and prevent attacks against Sunnis. 
 
HILLAH 00000026  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
 
SHI'A PARTIES LEAD PROTESTS IN WASIT, WATCHED BY ARMY, IP 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
¶12. (SBU) By midday, thousands of demonstrators had begun 
marching from the Provincial Council (PC) building to the 
Governorate Center complex (GC) in Al-Kut, local staff reported. 
Iraqi Army (IA) and police provided security along the route. 
Protesters carried banners reading, "Death for the Wahabbis," 
"Death for the Infidels," and "Death for Saddam and his 
Comrades." A Wasit journalist related that mosques called for 
political parties to gather at the GC, and that the mosque 
announcements blamed the U.S. and Israel for the Al-Askariyah 
bombing. 
 
¶13. (SBU) Ahmed Al-Hakim, Wasit SCIRI Head, said that he had 
told SCIRI members to prepare for protests all day and the next 
day, February 23. He said that he had instructed both SCIRI and 
Badr Organization members to follow Sistani's instructions not 
to assault Sunni mosques, but offered that he could not predict 
whether Sadrists would follow these instructions. Wasit Sistani 
Representative Habib Al-Khatib related that he had addressed a 
second demonstration, also reportedly numbering in the 
thousands, in Al-Numaniyah, outside Kut. He said that he offered 
the crowd Sistani's condolences, and admonished them to follow 
the instructions of the Marja'iyah to demonstrate peacefully and 
not harm Sunni mosques. 
 
¶14. (SBU) General Mohammed Jawad, the commander of the Second 
Battalion, Eighth Division of the IA, reported that he had 
deployed his troops in Kut and outside the city to secure 
buildings and property. He said that the IA was cooperating with 
the IP on securing Sunni mosques in Kut. Qasim Al-Arijay, Wasit 
Badr Organization Deputy and the chairman of the PC security 
committee, said that he had worked to coordinate police and army 
protection of Sunni shrines. He added that he was told by Badr 
headquarters to place the Wasit Badr Organization "on alert." He 
predicted that Sadrists would soon begin to attack Sunni mosques 
across the province. 
 
¶15. (SBU) Comment: Given the massive size of demonstrations 
across the region, and the apparent depth of Shi'a anger, early 
reports of two killings and a small number of beatings and 
ransackings  shows considerable restraint. The actions of Iraqi 
Police and Iraqi Army to monitor the demonstrations and protect 
Sunni areas may indicate a maturation amongst the Iraqi security 
services. That Mahdi Militia members were reportedly responsible 
for some of the violence and much of the extreme rhetoric, 
however, reveals that Iraqi security forces remain unwilling or 
unable to effectively contain this group. Increasingly fervent 
and widespread demonstrations are likely to continue region-wide 
after Friday prayers on February 24. End comment. 
FONTENEAU