VZCZCXRO7577
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #1994/01 1681657
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
P 171657Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1730
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 001994 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/16/2017 
TAGS: ECON EPET IR IZ PGOV PINS PNRG PREL SY XF
SUBJECT: DEPUTY SECRETARY CALLS ON VP ABDEL MEHDI FOR 
IMMEDIATE PROGRESS ON RECONCILIATION LEGISLATION 
 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
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Summary 
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¶1.  (C) Summary.  The Deputy Secretary pressed Islamic 
Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI) Vice President Adel Abdel 
Mehdi June 12 that Iraqis needed to make this the "last 
minute" in the effort to achieve progress on key 
reconciliation legislation.  Abdel Mehdi replied that 
principles of the hydrocarbon law have been agreed upon.  The 
law could be sent to the Council of Representatives next week 
if the Kurds ceased returning to the negotiating table with 
revisions to the draft text and were present for negotiation 
sessions.  Abdel Mehdi agreed to meet the same evening with 
Kurdish representative Rowsch Shaways and DCM Daniel 
Speckhard to hammer out the details.  On Provincial Elections 
and de-Baathification reform legislation, Abdel Mehdi said he 
believed agreement on the former was more likely in the short 
run.  The Vice President explained efforts to form a new 
Government of Iraq (GOI) moderate front and assured the 
Deputy Secretary that Sunnis would not be excluded. 
Concerning Iranian intentions, the VP said that he believed 
Tehran was sincere in wanting to continue the trilateral 
talks, but that it was unlikely to stop supporting activities 
to encourage attacks on Coalition Forces in Iraq.  End 
Summary. 
 
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Hydrocarbons Legislation 
------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) The Deputy Secretary pressed VP Abdel Mehdi for GOI 
progress on legislative benchmarks.  Referring to progress on 
Hydrocarbons, Abdel Mehdi pointed to Ambassador, "every time 
we meet I think the language on Revenue Management is settled 
and then they - the Kurds - send over another revised draft." 
 Abdel Mehdi explained that on the most recent Revenue 
Sharing draft the Kurdish side had come back with several 
points of contention on disbursement of surplus revenue, 
despite considerable concessions from the Shia alliance 
(UIA), such as on automatic transfers from the Central Bank 
to the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG).  Abdel Mehdi 
complained that the Kurds need to work a little for Federal 
interests, rather than focus one-hundred-percent on their own 
regional interests.  He also complained that KRG 
Representative Rowsch Shaways' absences from Baghdad 
prevented negotiations from proceeding. 
 
¶3. (C) Ambassador raised USG frustration on Hydrocarbons 
progress, pointing out that we hear one thing from one side, 
and another thing from the other side.  He asked Abdel Mehdi 
if it would be helpful to bring the parties together in one 
room with the US.  The Vice President nodded, "Yes, it will 
help, the principles are already there, and you can play a 
positive role."  As the meeting continued, EmbOff contacted 
Shaways who agreed to meet with Abdel Mehdi and DCM at 8:00 
p.m. that evening to hammer out an agreement. 
 
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De-Baathification and Provincial Elections 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶4. (C) Abdel Mehdi briefed the Deputy Secretary on the status 
of Presidency Council deliberations on the draft 
de-Baathification reform law.  "We continue to work... I 
thought we had something," said the VP, explaining that while 
he and Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP) Vice President Tariq 
al-Hashemi usually agree on most issues, "Tariq is 
influential but not in full control of the Sunni side."  On 
Provincial Elections, however, said the VP, "this is 
something we can do," and pointed out that he and VP Hashemi 
agreed on the issue of including externally and internally 
displaced persons (IDPs). 
 
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VP: Moderate Front Will Not Exclude Sunnis 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶5. (S) Vice President Abdel Mehdi raised the efforts of Prime 
Minister Maliki to build a moderate front GOI coalition bloc 
with the PM's Dawa Party, ISCI, PUK, and KDP.  In response to 
the Deputy Secretary's concern that Sunnis would be excluded, 
Abdel Mehdi assured him that this would not be the case. 
However, the VP continued, the front was not to be a national 
unity government "in the sense that it includes all parties 
and cannot accomplish anything."  The VP explained that the 
front as envisioned would include the three Presidents and 
the PM, representing the key Iraqi interests.  The four 
leaders could then make decisions and develop strategies, and 
return to their respective blocs to build support for 
 
BAGHDAD 00001994  002 OF 002 
 
 
approval in Parliament.  Abdel Mehdi characterized the idea 
as "practical and constitutional - we need to be inclusive 
but also effective."  The VP indicated that IIP is in favor 
of the bloc and that the larger Sunni alliance, Tawafuq, 
accepted the principle of the PM plus the Presidency. 
 
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Abdel Mehdi on Iranian Intentions 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (S) The Deputy Secretary asked Abdel Mehdi for his 
assessment of Iranian intentions in Iraq.  The Vice 
President, who visited Iran a month ago, said it was his 
impression that Iran wants to continue its dialogue with the 
US and that Iranian National Security Director Laranjani was 
hopeful the talks would lead to something positive.  They say 
that they want to be helpful to Iraq, continued Abdel Mehdi, 
"however, I think they will continue attacking Americans in 
Iraq."  As to whether they also targeted Iraqi Security 
Forces, the Vice President said "they do not discriminate." 
 
¶7. (U) This message was cleared by the Deputy Secretary's 
staff. 
 
CROCKER