VZCZCXRO5970
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK
DE RUEHIHL #0103/01 1631619
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
P 121619Z JUN 06
FM REO HILLAH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0659
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD PRIORITY 0645
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RUEHIHL/REO HILLAH 0710

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 HILLAH 000103 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
BAGHDAD FOR NCT 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  6/12/2016 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED: BABIL POLICE CHIEF UNDER FIRE 
FOR RESCUING GOVERNOR 
 
REF: A) HILLAH 80 B) HILLAH 82 C) HILLAH 85 D) HILLAH 93 E) HILLAH 99 
 
HILLAH 00000103  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Douglas Meurs, Deputy Regional Coordinator, REO 
Hillah, Department of State. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
 
¶1. (U) This is a Babil PRT Cable. 
 
¶2. (S) SUMMARY: Babil Police Chief General Qais Hamza Aboud 
Al-Momouri has yet again come under political fire from the 
Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) 
affiliated Babil Provincial Governor, Salem Saleh Mehdi 
Al-Muslimawi.  This time Qais has incurred the Governor's wrath 
for not saving him from hostile protesters during a June 6 
demonstration in south Babil in a "timely fashion."  Politically 
motivated allegations aside, this recent incident demonstrates 
that popular support for the Governor is waning and it may be 
more difficult for SCIRI to remove the secular Shi'a Babil 
Police Chief than previously imagined.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶3. (S) On June 6, residents of Al-Qasim, a medium sized city 
located in southern Babil, held a demonstration at the town's 
main government building, petitioning the mayor and the local 
council to make improvements in basic social services and to 
administer the equitable distribution of gas and propane. 
During the protest, the Governor of Babil, the Chair of the 
Provincial Council (PC) and two PC members came under direct 
physical assault from the protesters.  Ironically, the 
provincial political leaders attended the protest under the 
misconception that the demonstrators organized the event against 
Babil Police Chief General Qais. 
 
¶4. (S) According to eyewitness accounts, a crowd of 
approximately six hundred individuals dissatisfied with 
negotiations taking place with the provincial leaders at the 
venue, physically attacked and destroyed the Governor's 
U.S.-provided armored SUV with rocks and subsequently forced 
their way into the municipal building.  In retaliation, the 
Iraqi Police (IP) guarding the building fired into the crowd, 
wounding five civilians.  Reports indicate that none of the 
civilians were critically injured.  The protesters managed to 
overpower the police team and trapped the Governor and PC 
members inside the building. 
 
¶5. (S) During the attack, the Governor called Babil Police Chief 
General Qais and ordered him to come to the rescue.  Qais, with 
an Al-Hillah SWAT unit, deployed to Al-Qasim and managed to calm 
the crowd.  (COMMENT: General Qais met the Governor 
approximately four kilometers from Al-Qasim and did not actually 
rescue him from the demonstrators.  Apparently, the IP commander 
on the scene managed to secure the building and expedite the 
Governor's escape.  END COMMENT).  Upon his arrival at Al-Qasim, 
the protesters pleaded with Qais to present their demands to the 
PC.  The General agreed to the request and additionally 
commented that corruption in the provincial government is the 
direct cause for current gas and propane shortages (reftel E). 
 
¶6. (C) The SCIRI Governor, who is presently spearheading the 
effort to have General Qais removed from office, detailed a 
completely different rendition of the events, maintaining that 
an armed insurgent group instigated the attack and General Qais 
failed to deploy the SWAT team in a timely manner.  General 
Qais, on the other hand, informed PRT staff that he specifically 
warned the Governor and PC Chair on June 5 not to travel to 
Al-Qasim as local citizens planned a demonstration.  According 
to Qais, the PC Chair retorted disdainfully to the advice, "we 
intend to walk with our people." 
 
¶7. (C) A committee from the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) 
traveled to Al-Qasim on June 7 to investigate the incident. 
According to local contacts, during a meeting between the MOI 
committee and the PC, one MOI representative expressed his 
complete support for General Qais and chastised the PC members 
for allegedly attempting to morph the successful rescue into a 
fallacious allegation against the General.  The contact further 
stated that the committee intended to submit a positive 
after-action report to MOI headquarters in Baghdad concerning 
the Babil Police Chief's leadership during the clash. 
 
¶8. (C) The MOI decision to back Qais in line with previous MOI 
support for the General has further embroiled Babil political 
life.  The SCIRI members of the PC, according to Al-Hillah Mayor 
Imad Lefta, have prolonged their "suspension" of PC activities 
and have closed the provincial municipal building in Al-Hillah, 
as they previously threatened to do if the MOI refuses to 
endorse their decision to fire General Qais (ref D).  Lefta 
added that the striking SCIRI members have removed all of their 
seals and papers from their offices and intend to "dump them on 
 
HILLAH 00000103  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
the desk of Prime Minister Maliki" in a demonstration of their 
solidarity against the Babil Police Chief. 
 
¶9. (S) COMMENT: It is highly ironic that General Qais saved the 
Governor - someone who is desperately trying to replace him with 
a SCIRI party loyalist (ref A, B, C, D).  Hopefully the 
successful rescue will serve as evidence that despite the PC's 
claims, Qais is a professional, dedicated to his mission and 
loyal to Iraq.  On the other hand, Babil is now effectively 
without a legislative branch.  Moreover, most local contacts 
have voiced that the dim-witted attempt by the Governor to cast 
the rescue as a failure will surely backfire.  The Chief of 
Military Intelligence in Babil commented at the weekly REO 
security meeting, "The downfall of a certain individual [e.g. 
the Governor] begins this way."  Meanwhile, the Governor has 
already submitted a request to the REO for a new armored SUV. 
END COMMENT. 
MEURS