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FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6890
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S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 DAMASCUS 000709 
 
NOFORN 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/FO, NEA/ELA 
NSC FOR SHAPIRO/MCDERMOTT 
PARIS FOR NOBLES 
LONDON FOR LORD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/30/2029 
TAGS: PREL PTER IZ SY
SUBJECT: REVENGING AFLAQ (I):  FORMER IRAQI BAATHISTS IN 
SYRIA -- WHO ARE THESE GUYS? 
 
DAMASCUS 00000709  001.3 OF 003 
 
 
Classified By: CDA Charles Hunter, Reasons 1.4 b and d. 
 
¶1.  (S/NF) Summary:  After the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 
hundreds of former Iraqi officials left Baghdad and chose 
Syria as their destination, not necessarily out of political 
or ideological affinity, but because of previously 
established ties to Syrian regime insiders and because Syria 
remained open to them.  Two prominent former Iraqi officials, 
former Vice President Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri (the famous "King 
of Clubs" among most-wanted Iraqi officials) and former 
advisor to Saddam's Executive Council Mohammed Yunis 
al-Ahmad, reportedly arrived with "suitcases of cash" and a 
desire to establish a resistance unit in Syria.  In 2006, 
former MP Mishan Jaburi joined them after being stripped of 
his parliamentary immunity and indicted for theft of money to 
provide food to guards protecting the oil pipelines around 
Kirkuk.  Jaburi reportedly had been in Syria before, having 
fled Iraq in 1989 after being implicated in an assassination 
attempt in that year against Saddam.  Arriving with tens of 
millions of dollars, al-Jaburi and his Syrian wife, Rawa 
al-Ustah, established al-Zawra television and subsequently, 
after Egypt removed al-Zawra from Nilesat, the al-Rai TV 
station. Like al-Zawra before it, al-Rai broadcasts 
pro-insurgency vitriol including footage of attacks on U.S. 
forces.  End Summary 
 
¶2.  (S/NF)  The ongoing dispute between Iraq and Syria over 
the role of former Iraqi Baath officials in Syria has 
generated interest in their current activities.  This cable 
provides a brief overview of three prominent Iraqi Baath 
Party members in Damascus and should be read with a  septel 
assessment of Syria's motives for continuing to provide 
safe-haven for former Iraqi regime elements (FREs). 
 
 
---------------------------- 
The Red-Headed King of Clubs 
---------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (S/NF)  Arriving in Syria in Spring 2003, al-Duri was the 
highest-ranking Iraqi official in exile.  He touted himself 
as the de facto leader of the Baath Party after Saddam's 
arrest in 2004, and his main focus was to support the 
insurgency with funding, people, and material, claims Reuters 
Bureau Chief Khaled Oweiss (strictly protect), who spent 
extensive time in Iraq covering the war.  Al-Duri's ties with 
Syrian officials reportedly predated the war.  Al-Duri was 
rumored to be a middle man in illicit trade between Saddam's 
sons Uday and Qusay and former Syrian President Hafez 
al-Asad's oldest son Basil, who died in a car crash in 1996, 
and Maher Asad, younger brother to Bashar. Al-Duri is 
believed to have pocketed a sizable commission from these oil 
and other deals.  Local sources reported in 2004 that al-Duri 
arrived in Syria with millions of dollars in cash and used 
that money to buy Syrian influence to establish a base of 
operations, reports Oweiss. 
 
¶4.  (S/NF)  Al-Duri's whereabouts between 2003 and the 
present remain difficult to pin down, but many observers here 
believe he traveled in and out of Syria frequently, reports 
Egyptian Political Counselor Adel Ibrahim (strictly protect), 
who closely follows Iraqi elements in Syria.   Al-Duri 
claimed in July 2006 that the Baath Party was responsible for 
"95 percent" of the insurgency in Iraq and criticized 
al-Qaeda/Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi for seeking to instill 
"hateful sectarianism."  Despite this anti-Islamic bias, 
Al-Duri's focus on supporting the insurgency may have led him 
to establish links to al-Qaeda networks using Syria to pass 
jihadis into Iraq, assesses Crisis International Group 
representative Peter Harling (strictly protect), who cautions 
that most of the evidence for such links remains anecdotal. 
 
DAMASCUS 00000709  002.4 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶5.  (S/NF) Al-Duri traveled around the region and in Iraq 
itself. (He was reportedly killed in Iraq in November 2005 
but then later emerged quite alive in a press interview.) 
Al-Duri then resurfaced in Syria in 2008 just as Syrian-Iraqi 
relations were beginning to improve.  In press remarks 
attributed to him in May of that year, al-Douri criticized 
Syria for not providing sufficient support to the "Baath 
cause," prompting a public rebuke from Syrian FM Muallim. 
(Muallim reportedly told Iraqi officials in March 2009 that 
al-Duri was no longer welcome in Syria.) 
 
 
--------------------------------- 
Political Wing Leader, SARG Proxy 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (S/NF) Yunis al-Ahmad also established ties to SARG 
officials by virtue of his reported role as a middleman for 
Saddam's sons and Syrian business contacts.  He arrived in 
Damascus in 2003, established ties to Syrian officials, and 
opened office that promoted the insurgency.  Contacts here 
maintain, however, al-Ahmad proved less adept than al-Duri at 
mobilizing support for the Baathist-led insurgency inside 
Iraq.  Some sources maintain al-Ahmad opposed efforts to 
establish ties between Iraqi Baathists and al-Qaeda-linked 
groups. Ahmad's operation became known as the "political 
wing" of the exiled Iraqi Baath Party, according to Oweiss, 
while al-Duri's was referred to as the leader of the 
"military wing." 
 
¶7.  (S/NF) Al-Ahmad, with SARG approval, actively recruited 
staff and supporters from Iraq's expanding refugee community 
in Syria, according to Oweiss.  Working closely with the 
Syrian Government, Al-Ahmad offered perks and a steady salary 
to Iraqis who supported his cause, turned out for small 
pro-Baathist rallies, and demonstrated against the U.S. 
occupation.  He would eventually contest al-Duri's claims as 
the Baath Party exile leader after Saddam's execution in 
December 2006, Ibrahim reports.  The al-Duri and al-Ahmad 
rivalry reportedly reflected differences over whether to ally 
with al-Qaeda linked groups, control over finances, and 
al-Duri's indifference to SARG efforts to restrain FRE 
activities in Syria after Syrian-Iraqi ties began to improve 
in 2007. 
 
¶8.  (S/NF)  Syria allowed the two organizations to continue 
operating in Damascus, but security services began keeping 
closer tabs on both when the rivalry reportedly escalated, 
according Oweiss.  "Before, the Syrians appeared to allow 
both (offices) to operate more freely; after the rivalry 
intensified, Syrians put them on a much shorter leash," he 
said.  By mid-2007, al-Ahmad's group was, with SARG 
encouragement, openly questioning Saddam's rule and calling 
for reconciliation with the Iraqi Government.  That didn't 
mean al-Ahmad was ready to face trial or return money, but it 
marked a significant shift in the group's outlook and put it 
at odds with al-Duri," comments Harling. 
 
 
------------------- 
Resistance TV Mogul 
------------------- 
 
¶9.  (S/NF) A third prominent former Iraqi official, former MP 
Mishan Jaburi, arrived in Syria in 2006 after being indicted 
for theft of money to provide food to guards protecting the 
oil pipelines around Kirkuk.  Jaburi probably had been in 
Syria before, having fled Iraq in 1989 after being implicated 
in an assassination attempt that year against Saddam.  Jaburi 
reportedly absconded with millions of dollars and was 
 
DAMASCUS 00000709  003.4 OF 003 
 
 
believed to have spent at least part of the 1990s exiled in 
Syria, Harling notes.  He returned to Iraq in 2003 and 
emerged in a controversial dispute over the governorship of 
Mosul.  After he failed to win that post, Jaburi established 
the Reconciliation and Liberal Party and won a seat in 
parliament in 2004. 
 
¶10.  (S/NF)  Jaburi arrived in Syria in 2006 more flush, this 
time with tens of millions of dollars.  Al-Jaburi and his 
Syrian wife, Rawa al-Ustah, established al-Zawra television, 
which broadcast pro-insurgency vitriol including footage of 
attacks on U.S. forces.  Al-Zawra eventually lost its access 
to satellite broadcasting after U.S. intervention with the 
Government of Egypt to remove its subscription from Nilesat. 
Jaburi and his wife then founded al-Rai television, which 
continued to broadcast from Syria. Jaburi has also used his 
wealth to penetrate the Syria business community.  According 
to reliable business contacts, he and Rami Maklouf were 
partners in the launch of Sham Airlines, although Jaburi 
reportedly sold his stake in the company in 2008.  Al-Rai 
continues to broadcast an anti-GOI and U.S. message; recent 
broadcasts have focused criticism on PM Maliki. 
 
¶11.  (S/NF)  Comment:  Former Iraqi regime elements in Syria 
comprise a small band of a wide spectrum of Iraqi political 
movements with representation here, including the Jaysh al 
Mahdi, Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, and the Jaysh 
al-Islam.  The Syrian Government has dedicated significant 
resources to penetrating these groups to increase Syrian 
understanding of and influence over Iraqi political actors. 
Although al-Duri no longer appears to be part of the FRE 
scene in Syria, his office in the Damascus suburb of West 
Mezzeh hosted a flurry of Ramadan iftars and other events, 
according to local diplomats.  Al-Ahmad and al-Jaburi remain 
well-connected and, for the moment, untouchable.  Al-Rai 
television, reportedly with Syrian approval, broadcast a 
two-hour presentation on September 13 by al-Ahmed bashing PM 
Maliki and refuting Iraqi claims that Syria-based Iraqi Baath 
Party members were involved in the August 19 bombings or 
supporting the insurgency more generally.  According to 
several sources, al-Ahmed and al-Juburi live close to one 
another in two large villas in the western Damascus suburb of 
Yarfour.  They enjoy continued access to Syrian elites and 
have demonstrated a remarkable ability to modulate their 
message and activities according to Syrian preferences. 
 
 
HUNTER