VZCZCXRO4300
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHMOS
DE RUEHIHL #0066 1051515
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 151515Z APR 06
FM REO HILLAH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0600
INFO RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD PRIORITY 0586
RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RUEHIHL/REO HILLAH 0651

C O N F I D E N T I A L HILLAH 000066 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  4/15/2016 
TAGS: PGOV KISL KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: NAJAF: SADR MEETS WITH SISTANI'S SON, SUPPORTS JA'AFARI FOR 
NOW 
 
REF: A) HILLAH 57 B) HILLAH 59 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Alfred Fonteneau, Regional Coordinator, REO 
Hillah, Department of State. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY. On the evening of April 13, Mohammad Ridha 
Sistani, son of Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, visited Moqtada 
Al-Sadr at his residence in the Al-Hannah district of Najaf to 
discuss the ongoing government formation process. According to 
sources from within Sadr's and Sistani's offices, Sadr expressed 
his continued support for Prime Minister-designate Ja'afari. 
However, Sadr would agree to a Ja'afari replacement if and only 
if such a decision was made without U.S. and Coalition pressure. 
Both Sistani and Sadr agreed that a government must be formed 
soon to avoid giving insurgents further incentive to attack 
sites in Najaf as was the case during the April bombing in the 
vicinity of the Imam Ali Shrine. END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (C) Moqtada Al-Sadr met with Mohammed Ridha Sistani for 
approximately two hours on the evening of April 13 at Sadr's 
residence in Najaf. Representatives from both Sadr and Sistani's 
offices, in conversations with State Embedded Team-Najaf local 
staff confirmed the meeting and said the primary focus was on 
the ongoing government formation negotiations. NOTE. Local media 
in Najaf reported the meeting, with very little detail, on April 
¶15. END NOTE. 
 
¶3. (C) Sadr reaffirmed his support for United Iraqi Alliance 
Prime Minister-designate Ibrahim Al-Ja'afari.  However, Sadr 
said he would support a decision by the UIA to replace Ja'afari 
with another candidate. This decision must be solely an Iraqi 
and UIA led process, however, and not a result of U.S. pressure 
or interference in the internal affairs of the Iraqi people. 
Sadr assured Sistani that he would work to ensure that his 
followers peacefully accepted a decision to present a candidate 
other than Ja'afari for PM.  In any case, remaining questions 
should be resolved as quickly as possible to reduce the chances 
of violence, particularly in Najaf. 
 
¶4.  (C) Sistani and Sadr also agreed on the need for Sunni 
leadership to condemn extremism. To this end, Sadr reportedly 
offered to arrange a meeting between Ayatollah Sistani and Sunni 
scholars.  Sadr and Sistani demanded in particular that alleged 
Sunni expulsions of Shi'a families must cease, and internally 
displaced persons must be allowed to return to their homes. 
Mohammed Sistani agreed in principle with the idea, but did not 
say anything further. 
 
¶5. (C) Sistani informed Sadr that his father, Ayatollah Sistani, 
had sent a letter to Egyptian president Hosni Mubarek, 
condemning his comments regarding the loyalty of Iraqi Shi'a and 
asking for a formal apology to the Iraqi people. Sadr agreed, 
and expressed his outrage and astonishment at the Egyptian 
president's remarks. 
 
¶6. (C) COMMENT: The content of the meeting between Sadr and the 
son of Ayatollah Sistani, is another indicator of the growing 
impatience with the failure of the UIA to resolve the Ja'afari 
question. In private, Sadr's support for Ja'afari appears to be 
slightly softer than he has indicated in his public statements 
(Ref. A). This impatience notwithstanding, there is no 
indication at this point that Ayatollah Sistani himself, unlike 
other Marja'aya clerics (Ref. B), will enter the fray. END 
COMMENT 
 
FONTENEAU