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PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #1360/01 1451214
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P 251214Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3185
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 001360 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/25/2019 
TAGS: PGOV ECONIZ PINR IZ
SUBJECT: DIWANIYAH:  HOPEFULNESS BUT UNCERTAINTY ABOUT THE 
NEW LEADERSHIP TEAM 
 
REF: A. BAGHDAD 1283 
     ¶B. BAGHDAD 1259 
 
Classified By: PRT Team Leader Michael Klecheski for reasons 1.4 (b) an 
d (d). 
 
¶1.  (C) Summary:  While Diwaniyah Province's public expects 
its new governing team to be an improvement over the 
ISCI-dominated leadership that preceded it, much of the 
citizenry remains to be convinced that things will improve 
significantly.  Increasingly serious water problems are 
souring the public's mood, a fact that clearly worries the 
new leadership.  Early on, the provincial government also has 
made attracting investors a focus.  We offer this snapshot of 
the mood in the province early in the new government's term. 
End Summary. 
 
Uncertainty About the New Leadership 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶2.  (C) As noted in reftels, Diwaniyah Province's new 
Governor, Salim Alwan, and Provincial Council (PC) leadership 
have begun their work with enthusiasm and a willingness to 
cooperate with the PRT.  We detect a hope among the public 
that the new, more technocratic officials will improve 
somewhat over the performance of their more religiously 
focused predecessors, who hailed from ISCI.  Indeed, ISCI's 
exclusion from the governing coalition seems to be welcomed 
by our contacts and, we believe, by those in the broader 
public who are aware of it.  Nonetheless, the last 
government's weak performance has not inspired confidence 
that future ones can do much better, we were told, and 
reports that the budget for the province will be woefully 
inadequate relative to the huge problems are also 
discouraging expectations. 
 
Worries About Water 
------------------- 
 
¶3.  (C) Above all, the mood is soured by massive water 
problems, our contacts agreed.  Abdulameer Obais, a prominent 
businessman and former general who returned recently from 
self-exile in England (and who held out hope of becoming 
governor), told us that grave water shortages have forced him 
to leave half of his six thousand donum of farmland fallow. 
Though he has managed to invest in some wells, these address 
only the drinking water needs of those living on his land. 
Much of the rural population is moving to urban centers 
looking for work, Obais reported.  Obais worried that this 
could help strengthen support for insurgents. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Provincial authorities have sought to demonstrate 
activism on the issue.  We have heard a chorus of voices, 
both in public and private, about the gravity of the 
situation, with Diwaniyah CoR member Sheikh Hussein Sha'alan 
(Iraqiyah) calling it "catastrophic" in a statement to the 
media.  Sha'alan, underscoring that agriculture is at the 
core of the province,s economy and that rice is at the core 
of the agricultural sector, said that Baghdad must do more to 
address the problem, above all by increasing the allocation 
of water to the province.  The PC Health Committee Chair told 
us that from his perspective, the water situation was most 
alarming for its implications for the province's already 
serious health problems. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Governor Alwan announced plans to explore 
well-drilling along with an initiative to clean out sediment 
from rivers and canals.  He and other provincial officials 
also urged that Baghdad press Turkey to increase the flow of 
water into Iraq.  Further, provincial authorities reported 
that a Ukrainian company is considering investing in drilling 
wells in the province.  Even if all these efforts succeed, 
however, our contacts believed that this would only lessen 
the severity of the water shortage somewhat, with the 
situation remaining extremely serious. 
 
Attracting Investment 
QAttracting Investment 
--------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) In his introductory conversation with us (reftels), 
the Governor had pointed to attracting investments as one of 
his priorities, and he has devoted effort to that early on. 
He installed a new official as head of the Provincial 
Investment Committee (even while retaining all the Directors 
General from the previous administration), and announced that 
he has written to numerous potential investors, both Iraqi 
and foreign, inviting them to consider investingQoQN.|F9 &{Y]YQb=Q1M5 
suggest that there is widespread hopefulness for an 
improvement over the previous provincial government.  Locals 
also feel fortunate not to be burdened with the political 
problems in neighboring Najaf Province, although there are 
concerns about the security implications of those problems 
for Diwaniyah.  Despite the broader hopefulness, however, it 
is useful to be reminded that locals' expectations remain 
muted, with uncertainty whether Diwaniyah's new leadership 
will really produce something appreciably better.  The budget 
available to the province, as well as the lack of training 
and experience of many in the new administration, are major 
hindrances.  But for the moment, all eyes are on how well 
that administration -- and the national government -- will 
tackle the province's water situation.  End Comment. 
HILL 
 
BAGHDAD 00001360  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶7.  (C) A chance encounter we had with another investor 
offers some insights into how businessmen are exploring the 
Diwaniyah economy for opportunities.  We met the potential 
investor, a Lebanese representing a Lebanese-Australian-Iraqi 
joint venture, when he came to a sheikh who had arranged for 
us to lunch with the new Provincial Council Chairman.  The 
investor, who had hoped to strike up a personal relationship 
with the Chairman before a more formal meeting the next day, 
arrived late, after the Chairman's departure.  His company 
was exploring constructing housing for a middle class whose 
ranks were growing in the province but who were finding 
inadequate housing of the quality they could now afford. 
Looking ahead to building housing in southern Iraq, the 
company had bought a brick factory in a neighboring province 
to ensure itself of a good, low-cost supply of bricks, we 
were told.  Our interlocutor believed provinces like 
Diwaniyah offered an interesting prospect for investment, but 
he was quick to add that many questions remained to be 
answered, making his upcoming meeting with provincial 
authorities pivotal. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶8.  (C) We are encouraged by the new leaders' posture toward 
the PRT, and our conversations with well-connected locals 
suggest that there is widespread hopefulness for an 
improvement over the previous provincial government.  Locals 
also feel fortunate not to be burdened with the political 
problems in neighboring Najaf Province, although there are 
concerns about the security implications of those problems 
for Diwaniyah.  Despite the broader hopefulness, however, it 
is useful to be reminded that locals' expectations remain 
muted, with uncertainty whether Diwaniyah's new leadership 
will really produce something appreciably better.  The budget 
available to the province, as well as the lack of training 
and experience of many in the new administration, are major 
hindrances.  But for the moment, all eyes are on how well 
that administration -- and the national government -- will 
tackle the province's water situation.  End Comment. 
HILL