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PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK RUEHMOS
DE RUEHGB #1059 0920928
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 020928Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3652
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 001059 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/26/2016 
TAGS: PINR EPET PGOV IZ
SUBJECT: MINISTRY OF OIL "PURGE" ON HOLD FOR NOW 
 
REF: BAGHDAD 978 
 
Classified By: ECON M/C Tom Delare, reasons 1.4 b/d 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: On March 25, ECON Minister Counselor 
expressed concern to Minister of Oil Heshem al-Hashimi 
(Fadhila party) that his Ministry was being purged of 
experienced top-level technocrats on sectarian grounds (i.e. 
being Sunnis). We were unhappy when Hashimi responded that he 
would not block "De-Baathification" of the Ministry. On March 
28, when we expressed our concerns to Deputy Prime-Minister 
Chalabi, he told us that he "stopped this" and that he had 
instructed Hashimi not to take action on De-Bathification  We 
have found out that there are six names for dismissal on the 
letter from the De-Bathification Committee to the Ministry of 
Oil and that 5 of the 6 currently are working with the sixth 
person on leave.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (C) The Minister of Oil told us that the De-Bathification 
Committee had send previous Minister of Oil Bahr al-Ulum a 
list with 6 names requiring their removal.  Hashimi said 
while that the previous Minister had delayed action on the 
names, he believed that he could not ignore the letter. 
Hashimi told us that those on the list would be offered early 
retirement rather than being fired and that to date, none had 
been fired. Hashimi reminded us that the De-Bathification 
Committee was a CPA creation with legal authority and that as 
Minister he had no authority to refuse to follow its 
instructions (reftel for more on recent De-Baathification 
problems). Hashimi did not tell us which Ministry officials 
were on the list. 
 
¶3. (C) Hashimi acknowledged other rumors swirling about the 
Ministry of Oil (MoO). He told us that he had been criticized 
(presumably from within the Shia coalition) for not requiring 
that women veil themselves at the Ministry. He stressed that 
the MoO has an open-door employment policy and that people 
were being hired for the Ministry on the basis of their 
qualifications to do technical work and not for their party 
or sectarian affiliation. 
 
¶4. (C) Hashimi has also been ridiculed as Minister of Oil 
because he is also the current Minister of Tourism. 
(Commentators have suggested a Minister of Tourism could not 
be a Minister of Oil and that Hashimi got the job because of 
his political/sectarian connections to the Fadhila party). 
In response to this, we invited Hashimi to talk about 
himself. He told us that he started electrical engineering 
studies at the university but he left to join the Iraqi Air 
Force. He had started off in the "standards and control" 
office but he had quickly worked his way up to Brigadier 
General rank in the Air Force where he was achieved a high 
ranking position as its Director General for Administration. 
While in the Air Force, he also received a B.S. in computer 
science. Hashimi made no claim of any knowledge, background 
or experience in the oil sector. 
 
Chalabi: A Ministry in Freefall 
------------------------------- 
 
(5. (C) In a subsequent weekly energy meeting March 28, 
co-chaired by the Ambassador and DPM Chalabi, we expressed 
concern over Hashimi's apparent willingness to allow his 
ministry to be purged.  Chalabi told us that that he had 
&stopped this8 and had instructed  Hashimi not to take any 
action.  On a related subject, namely the recent dismissal of 
State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) Director General (DG) 
al-Dujayli (reftel), Chalabi said that the matter was out of 
his hands, as PM Ja,fari is inhibited from any reaction by 
his need for Fadhila Party votes.  Chalabi,s overall 
evaluation was somber: &the ministry is in freefall.8 
 
¶6. (C) There are six names in the De-Bathification letter: 
Radwan al-Saadi, DG for Economics and Finance, Samir Michael, 
DG of the Technical Directorate, Dathar Khashab, DG of the 
Daura Refinery, Yasseen Suleiman, Head of the Legal 
Department, and Talib al-Zubaydi.  All are currently 
employed.  Sharif Muhsin, former Director General of the 
Auditing Department under Saddam, has been put on leave 
because he was a high level (&firqa8) member of the Ba'th 
Party. 
KHALILZAD