VZCZCXRO4600
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHMOS
DE RUEHIHL #0085 1351231
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
P 151231Z MAY 06
FM REO HILLAH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0627
INFO RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD PRIORITY 0613
RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RUEHIHL/REO HILLAH 0678

S E C R E T HILLAH 000085 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  5/14/2016 
TAGS: KISL PGOV MARR IZ
SUBJECT: GENERAL QAIS: WILL HE BE DISMISSED? 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Alfred Fonteneau, Regional Coordinator, REO 
Hillah, Department of State. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
 
¶1. (S) SUMMARY:  The beleaguered, but popular head of the Babil 
Police, General Qais Hamza Aboud Al-Momouri, updated the 
Regional Coordinator on developments in the Babil Governor and 
Provincial Council's campaign to dismiss him.  General Qais 
stated that he had traveled to Baghdad on Friday to see Minister 
of Interior Bayan Jabr, who would only give him a verbal 
assurance that for the moment, General Qais would remain in 
place.  One day later, Governor Al-Musalamawi and a delegation 
of eleven SCIRI Provincial Council members made the same trip. 
Governor Al-Musalamawi told the press that the Provincial 
Council's dismissal of General Qais stood and Qais would soon be 
stepping down. Iraqi police, Sunnis, and NGO members rallied on 
Sunday in downtown Hillah in support of General Qais.  There 
were several tense moments as Iraqi Army soldiers called in to 
take over for the Iraqi Police in guarding the Governor's 
offices pointed their weapons at the demonstrators.  Despite the 
public support and the protests of independent and some Sadr 
Provincial Council members, General Qais believes that Minister 
Jabr intends to sign an order dismissing Qais shortly before the 
Minister leaves office.  END SUMMARY 
 
¶2. (S) On May 14, General Hamza Qais, Babil Mayor Imad Lafta, 
and Babil IP Deputy Chief Colonel Abbas Al-Gebory briefed RC and 
REO staff on the campaign to remove him (reftel).  Qais looked 
exhausted, and Lafta did most of the talking.  Qais stated he 
had traveled to Baghdad to seek assurances from Minister of 
Interior Bayan Jabr that Qais would remain in place.  Jabr, Qais 
said, reQsed to provide anything in writing.  He assured Qais 
that he would remain in place as long as Jabr himself remained 
Minister. 
 
¶3. (S) Qais told RC that he believed Minister Jabr will issue a 
written order dismissing Qais just before leaving office.  He 
claimed that Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq 
(SCIRI) leader Ayatollah Abd al-Aziz al-Hakim was pressuring 
Jabr to remove Qais.  General Qais also noted that in a similar 
case, the removal of Najaf Province independent Police Chief 
Abbas, the Minister had assured Abbas he would stay and then 
quietly dismissed him by writing two days later. 
 
¶4. (C) The following day, Governor Al-Musalamawi held a 
television interview after his meeting with Minister Jabr and 
stated that the Provincial Council's dismissal of Qais will 
stand.  However, during a rally of 700-1000 General Qais 
supporters on Sunday, demonstrators heard from Iraqi Police 
officers that General Qais had returned from Baghdad with a 
signed memorandum confirming he would remain in place.  This may 
have been a deception to avoid bloodshed - at the time, 
demonstrators had just broken the front gate of the Provincial 
Government building.  Iraqi Army soldiers called in to replace 
the Governor's normal Iraqi Police guard reportedly aimed RPGs 
and machine guns at the crowd. 
 
¶5. (S) General Qais and Mayor Lafta urged the Embassy and MNF-I 
to put pressure on Prime Minister Malicki and Minister Jabr, 
saying that the stakes were high; "Babil will become another 
Baghdad."  Qais accused SCIRI, Da'wa, and Sadr PC members of 
having already divided up police positions as spoils in the 
event of Qais' departure.  Both Qais and Lafta attributed the 
persistence of the Governor and SCIRI PC faction's attacks on 
General Qais to behind the scenes pressure from MOIS, the 
Iranian intelligence agency. 
 
¶6. (S) When Mayor Lafta said quite seriously that the only thing 
left was to remove Governor Al-Musalamawi, RC inquired if there 
were any legal means to do so.  Lafta and Qais commented that 
Al-Musalamawi had submitted a fake college certificate to 
satisfy a requirement that provincial governors have a degree 
from an institute of higher learning.  Mayor Lafta stated he 
would talk to the Babil Province Independent Electoral 
Commission of Iraq to see if anything could be done to expose 
the certificate as a fake.  COMMENT: Lafta promised to forward a 
copy of the certificate to the REO. END COMMENT 
 
FONTENEAU