This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSUL 000006 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  2/1/2016 
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM IZ MARR PINT
SUBJECT: AL MOSUL FREE LIST DISAPPOINTED BY ELECTION LOSS 
 
REF: MOSUL 204 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: H. Carl Gettinger, Team Leader, Provincial 
Reconstruction Team Ninewa, State. 
REASON: 1.4 (a), (b), (d) 
 
 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1.  (C).  REO Poloff met with Shammar Sheikh Nayif Al Faysal of 
the Al Jerba tribe in Mosul on February 1, to discuss election 
results, compensatory seat awards, and the upcoming provincial 
election.  Al Faysal is disappointed that his brother Sheikh 
Khlaid Al Faysal's Al Mosul Free List (#639) coalition did not 
do better, claiming an unintentional splintering of the Shammar 
took votes away from MFL.  He also implicates leading 
coalitions, Tawafoq Iraqi Front (#618) and the Kurdistani 
Gathering (#730), with "manipulating the vote" to either 
frighten voters away for religious reasons, as in Tawafoq's 
case, or committing fraud.  Al Faysal is upset MFL did not 
receive a "promised" compensatory seat, which he claims were 
divided up amongst "Shiite parties in Baghdad."  Al Faysal said 
government corruption and negligence is leaving Western Ninewa, 
especially Tal Afar, out in the cold.  He believes the area will 
"heat up again" if something is not done to address problems 
there soon.  End Summary. 
 
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ELECTION RESULTS AND IRREGULARITIES 
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¶2.  (C) Al Faysal is disappointed by results from the December 
national election, but is still somewhat encouraged by his 
brother's performance given the many disadvantages the Al Mosul 
Free List (MFL) faced financially (reftel).  Al Faysal believes 
that although MFL finished just shy of qualifying for a seat, 
MFL lost votes for many reasons.  He admitted Sheikh Ghazi Al 
Yawr's National Iraqi List (#731) took some Shammar votes away, 
but claims MFL was hardest hit by a splintering of the Shammar 
vote, especially among members of the Al Jerba tribe who had 
five candidates on different lists on the Ninewa ballot.  For 
example, he said cousin and ninth place finisher Nawaf Sa'ud of 
the Lana Al Ghadd Advertising (#788) coalition took almost 
10,000 votes from the Shammar.  Al Faysal said Sa'ud, who is 
married to a member of the Saudi royal family, used 3 million 
dollars of his own money to run in the election, far outspending 
many other groups.  But had the two groups joined together, 
claims Al Faysal, they would have had over 22,000 votes and 
could have possibly gained a seat from the province. 
 
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FOUL PLAY BY POWERFUL PARTIES 
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¶3.  (C) Splintering of the community was not the only factor 
that impacted MFL's ability to win votes, according to Al 
Faysal.  He insists foul play by the much larger Tawafoq Iraqi 
Front (#618) and Kurdistani Gathering (KG) (#730) "really made 
the difference" in Ninewa.  Al Faysal accuses Tawafoq of 
"working with the mosques," by telling voters they would "sin" 
if they voted for anyone else; a claim made by Kurd and 
Christian parties as well.  He said KG, with the power of the 
Peshmerga, had troops on the ground "voting in multiple 
locations," and "harassing Arabs and others" to keep them away 
from the polls.  Al Faysal claims the latter's activities 
contributed to a "very high rate" of blank and invalid or 
"overvotes."  [NOTE: Ninewa had almost 20,000 blank and 
overvotes, second only to Baghdad.  By percentage only two 
provinces, Salahaddin and Baghdad, had slightly higher rates of 
blank and overvotes, edging out Ninewa's 2.1 percent, by 2.3 and 
2.2 percent, respectively.] 
 
¶4.  (C) Al Faysal believes the total number of voters in the 
province (942,000) was "200,000 more than actually voted."  He 
said that in strong Arab areas in Western Ninewa, such as Zumar, 
Rabiya, and Sununi, MFL received "virtually no votes," contrary 
to what he claims are the demographic realities on the ground. 
Al Faysal believes Kurds "stole votes" in these areas by "making 
void" votes for non-Kurd coalitions.  He said MFL submitted a 
formal complaint to the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq 
(IECI), but Al Faysal said the response claimed tests were done 
but no major irregularities had been found; REO did not see a 
copy of the response letter.  Regarding compensatory seats, Al 
Faysal said he is most disappointed, however, that MFL did not 
receive a compensatory seat.  He claims President Jalal Talabani 
told him MFL "would receive a seat," but Al Faysal claims that 
promise was lost when high-ranking Shiite officials in Baghdad 
decided to "take the seats for themselves." 
 
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PROVINCIAL ELECTIONS 
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¶5.  (C) Al Faysal believes no one will perform better than 
Tawafoq during the upcoming provincial election.  He said KG 
would do well also, but claims Tawafoq is "gaining ground," and 
receiving support from rival groups, such as Shiite, Turkmen, 
and Shabbek political parties.  Al Faysal said non-Kurd groups 
want to "do everything possible" to control the provincial 
government, since they were "not allowed to take part before." 
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RECONSTRUCTION 
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¶6.  (C) Regarding reconstruction efforts in Tal Afar, Al Faysal 
claims the area is "heating up again," now that projects have 
"come to a standstill."  He faults the Iraqi Transitional 
Government in Baghdad for not taking more seriously work in the 
area.  Al Faysal even went as far as to implicate his cousin, 
Ghazi Al Yawr, with working to ensure friends from contracting 
companies received special contracts for rebuilding in Ninewa. 
For example, Al Faysal said Al Yawr "helped make sure" one 
company received a contract to refurbish the Al Kissik military 
base, "damaged by looters after liberation," but at costs he 
claims were well above earlier estimates to repair it. 
GETTINGER