VZCZCXRO9457
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHMOS
DE RUEHIHL #0048 0821607
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 231607Z MAR 06
FM REO HILLAH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0579
INFO RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD PRIORITY 0564
RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RUEHIHL/REO HILLAH 0628

C O N F I D E N T I A L HILLAH 000048 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  3/23/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PINR IZ
SUBJECT: KARBALA COUNCIL OF REPRESENTATIVES MEMBERS' BIOGRAPHIC 
INFORMATION 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: GARY ANDERSON, ACTING REGIONAL COORDINATOR, REO, 
AL-HILLAH, STATE. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
 
¶1.  (U) In the December 15, 2005 elections, residents of Karbala 
province cast their votes to fill six seats in the new Council 
of Representatives (CoR).  They elected five members from the 
Shi'a Islamist United Iraqi Alliance coalition list (UIA, ballot 
number 555), and one from the National Iraqi List (ballot number 
731), which is led by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. 
Biographic information for the six CoR representatives follows. 
UIA members are listed in descending order according to their 
rank on the UIA ticket in Karbala. 
 
¶2.  (C) Reyad Abdul Hamza Razzak Ghareeb (male) ran as the 
number one candidate on the UIA ticket in Karbala.  He is a 
leading member of SCIRI (the Supreme Council for Islamic 
Revolution in Iraq) and has strong links to the Badr 
Organization.  Ghareeb reportedly moved to Iran in the 1970s, 
where he joined the Badr Organization.  He returned to Iraq 
after the fall of Saddam Hussein. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Mouther Hassan Hussein Al-Hakim (male) was the number 
two UIA candidate in Karbala.  He is in his 40s or early 50s. 
Al-Hakim served as Karbala Provincial Governor for three to four 
weeks under the CPA in 2003 or 2004.  He is an independent 
Islamist from the Office of Sistani in Karbala.  Al-Hakim was 
elected to the Karbala Provincial Council in the January 30, 
2005 elections.  In the Provincial Council, he served as the 
head of the Reconstruction Committee but was not active in the 
work of the committee.  Al-Hakim is a descendant of Mohammed and 
is considered pious by many of his colleagues.  He spends a 
significant amount of time working in the twin shrines in 
downtown Karbala, which are run by senior Sistani-affiliated 
clerics.  Prior to the December 2005 election, Al-Hakim was 
willing to meet with REO Al Hillah staff, but he was somewhat 
guarded during the conversation. 
 
¶4.  (C) Bushra Jabar Badan (female) ran as the number three 
candidate on the UIA slate (NOTE: Electoral rules dictated that 
the number three position on every list be filled by a female 
candidate.  END NOTE).  She is a member of the Islamic Fadila 
(or Virtue) party, which is considered the "moderate" stream 
among those affiliated with radical anti-American cleric Moqtada 
Al-Sadr (NOTE: The Islamic Fadila party reportedly follows the 
teachings of Moqtada's father, Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Sadiq 
Al-Sadr, a well-respected senior Shi'a cleric who was killed 
during Saddam's rule, rather than Moqtada himself.  END NOTE). 
Prior to the election, she worked as an Iraqi government 
employee in Karbala. 
 
¶5.  (C) Shiekh Tahseen Hameed Khaleef Al-Yasseri (male) is a 
follower of Moqtada Al-Sadr.  He is reportedly a member or 
ex-member of the Mahdi Militia. 
 
¶6.  (U) Hashim Ridha Ali (male) ran as the number five candidate 
on the UIA list in Karbala.  Prior to the December 2005 
election, he was the Director-General of Education for Karbala. 
Ali was a member of the Provincial Council in 2003 and/or 2004. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Sheikh Sa'ad Safouk Al-Masoudi (male) is the sole CoR 
delegate from Karbala who is not from the UIA.  He is a member 
of the National Iraqi List.  Al-Masoudi was born in 1949 in 
Karbala.  He graduated in 1975 with a law degree from the Arab 
University of Beirut and began practicing law in Karbala in 
¶1975.  Al-Masoudi is married and has six children.  He is a 
tribal leader with a secular worldview who is very comfortable 
working with the Coalition.  In April 2003, CPA officials 
appointed Al-Masoudi to the Provincial Council.  After he 
announced his intention to run for the office of Governor, there 
was an attempt on his life on July 13, 2003 in which he was shot 
twice in the stomach.  Al-Masoudi served as Deputy Governor 
starting in November 2003.  In February 2004, Provincial Council 
members selected him to be Governor.  He remained in that 
position until shortly after the January 2005 elections.  While 
he was Governor, and after he stepped down in early 2005, 
Al-Masoudi was a strong supporter of NGOs in Karbala, including 
the Karbala Women's Center, which was a CPA era initiative. 
 
ANDERSON