VZCZCXRO2534
RR RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #2068/01 2140632
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 020632Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4158
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 002068 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/02/2019 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL KISL IZ
SUBJECT: VISIT TO DETAINED SUNNI TRIBAL FIGURE 
 
REF: A. BAGHDAD 1294 
     ¶B. BAGHDAD 1599 
 
Classified By: Deputy Political Counselor Eric Carlson for reasons 1.4 
(b) and (d). 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: Emboffs conducted a prison visit on July 8 to 
see Sheikh Mutlab al-Massari, a close Embassy and U.S. 
military contact, prominent West Baghdad tribal leader and 
Sons of Iraq (SOI) affiliate.  Mutlab was detained by the 
Iraqi Army on May 12, suspected of association with the "New 
Ba'th Party."  He is being held under the watch of the 56th 
Brigade of the 6th Iraqi Army Division, which operates in 
part outside the normal Ministry of Defense chain of command, 
reporting to the Office of the Commander in Chief.  Mutlab 
had lost about 20 pounds, though apparently in fair physical 
condition overall; he has not been allowed family visitation. 
 Mutlab told poloff he was kept in a relatively small cell 
with about 16 others, but had access to medical care.  Asked 
by poloff if he had been tortured, he said he had been 
subject to "unbelievable mistreatment."  Despite this, it did 
not seem that he was undergoing or in immediate fear of 
torture.  Mutlab's case exemplifies the gulf of distrust 
between the government and Sunni leaders, as well as GOI fear 
(or paranoia) about a potential resurgence of Ba'thism.  End 
summary. 
 
---------------------------- 
The Case Against the Sheikh 
---------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) Poloffs, Embassy Justice Attache, and MNF-I Political 
Advisor conducted a visit on July 8 to detainee Sheikh Mutlab 
Ali Abbas Al-Massari, leader of the Patriotic Confederation 
of Iraqi Tribes and prominent community leader and affiliate 
of the Sons of Iraq program in West Baghdad.  Mutlab was 
arrested on July 8 on suspicion of association with elements 
of the "New Ba'th Party" (reftels).  The visit took place at 
the Office of the Commander in Chief (OCINC), also the 
headquarters of the Iraqi Army's 56th Brigade, aka "the 
Baghdad Brigade," an operation under the control of the Prime 
Minister and which is assailed by regime critics as PM 
Maliki's private political security force. 
 
¶3. (C) Unlike our June 9 encounter, prison authorities were 
nonchalant about our visit.  Rather than a group of taciturn 
and anonymous military officers (ref B), we were received by 
two apparently sympathetic young judicial investigators.  The 
investigators told us that the case revolved, in part, around 
Mutlab's name and address being found in records seized by 
police at a house in the North Baghdad neighborhood of 
Kathimiya in response to a report that the residence was an 
office for the "New Ba'th Party."  The investigators thought 
(as Mutlab's family asserts) that this house was actually 
used as a branch office for Ayad Allawi's Al-Wifaq (accord) 
movement.  They said they are trying to get Allawi's group to 
conclusively confirm this.  (The family subsequently alleged 
that Al-Wifaq officials have been dragging their feet, citing 
legal technicalities and admitting that they fear arrest if 
they respond to the court summons.  The family also claimed 
that "dozens" of others have been arrested because their 
names were found at the Kathimiya house.) 
 
------------ 
The Detainee 
------------ 
 
¶4. (C) Previously a jovial, avuncular figure, Mutlab appeared 
haggard, had not shaved and was wearing a slightly dirty 
white thobe; he had obviously not bathed recently.  When he 
first entered the trailer, Mutlab was emotional and agitated, 
vigorously protesting his innocence.  He gradually relaxed 
and settled into conversation.  With permission from the two 
investigators, we allowed Mutlab to use an Embassy phone to 
call his family.  Mutlab told us he has been allowed only one 
Qcall his family.  Mutlab told us he has been allowed only one 
other such call. 
 
--------------------- 
Legal Representation 
--------------------- 
 
¶5. (C) Mutlab told us he had signed a power of attorney 
appointing his old friend Abdel Qadir al-Nasseri as his 
lawyer.  Asked if it was possible to allow Mutlab's lawyer to 
visit him, the investigators responded that "this is a very 
difficult matter" and remarked that it was up to General 
Farouq Araji, Director of OCINC, to approve such visits. 
Theoretically there was no prohibition, they added, but in 
practice the intensive security measures at the OCINC 
facility make lawyers' visits very hard.  (Note:  Attorney 
visits at this facility have been permitted in the past, but 
with great difficulty.  End note.) 
 
 
BAGHDAD 00002068  002 OF 002 
 
 
---------- 
Treatment 
---------- 
 
¶6. (C) Poloff was able to have a short, semi-private 
conversation with Mutlab as the other emboffs spoke with the 
investigators.  He told poloff he was in a rather small cell 
with 16 others (two had been transferred out the day before); 
although suffering from kidney/urinary pain, he was seeing a 
doctor twice daily and had been provided medicine.  Mutlab 
voiced no complaints about his food, but was much thinner 
than when a free man.  Asked by poloff if he had been hit or 
tortured, he said in a very low voice "I will tell you 
later," and poked poloff in the leg.  When poloff followed up 
with the question "does that mean you've been tortured?," he 
whispered "unbelievable mistreatment." 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶7. (C)  While we cannot exclude the possibility that Mutlab 
has been tortured since his arrest, his body language and 
demeanor suggested he was probably not undergoing or in 
immediate fear of torture.  The good news from this visit is 
that we were able to obtain access to Mutlab, that he seemed 
to feel he could speak fairly freely, and that the 
investigators appeared versed in the legal process and 
interested in following it through.  This type of access for 
a foreign embassy would have been unthinkable in the Saddam 
regime.  The bad news, on the other hand, is that Mutlab 
continues to be held at a hard-to-access detention facility, 
has not been allowed to see his family, and has alleged 
mistreatment.  Moreover, while the PM recently issued an 
order directing the transfer of all prisoners in Ministry of 
Defense Custody to the care of the Ministry of Justice, it is 
uncertain whether the 56th Brigade, given its status, will be 
subject to this order.  End comment. 
 
FORD