VZCZCXRO2747
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #3181/01 3441528
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 101528Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5686
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 003181 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/I 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/10/2019 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KTER IZ
SUBJECT: SALAH AD DIN'S PROVINCIAL GOVERNOR DISPUTE HEATING 
UP 
 
REF: BAGHDAD 2847 
 
Classified By: David C. Stewart, PRT Team Leader, for reasons: 1.4 (b) 
and (d) 
 
¶1. (U) This is a Salah Ad Din Provincial Reconstruction Team 
(PRT) message. 
 
¶2. (C) Summary.  Political maneuvering both in Baghdad and in 
the Salah Ad Din Provincial Government (PG) have led to an 
increasingly tense impasse in the province.  Since the Iraqi 
Supreme Court upheld the Salah ad Din (SaD) Provincial 
Council (PC) decision to remove its governor in late October 
(reftel), the PG has been finding it increasingly difficult 
to carry out official business; SaD citizens are becoming 
frustrated at the lack of PG action on issues of concern to 
them; and violence has started to surface.  The death by 
suicide bombing on December 3 of the province's top Counter 
Terrorism Police Officer, LTC Ahmed Subhi al-Fahel, and an 
apparent assassination attempt on the PC Chairman's young 
cousin are grim reminders that politics in Iraq can be 
deadly.  Conflicting actions at the national level have 
muddied the question of who is the governor of SaD.  The 
apparent support by the PM for the Ex-PGov after the Supreme 
Court declared him out of office has brought the provincial 
government to a standstill.  End summary . 
 
- - - - - - 
Background 
- - - - - - 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Following the Iraqi Supreme Court decision to 
uphold the Salah ad Din (SaD) PC,s decision to remove its 
governor in late October (reftel the PC adhered to the 
Provincial Powers Law (PPL) and appointed Deputy PGOV Ahmed 
Abed-al-Jabar as Acting PGOV ("A/PGov") until the PC could 
hold a proper election to replace the Ex-PGov.  The PC held a 
public election with TV cameras rolling to publicize the 
transparency of the vote (22 PC members were present; the 
rest, from the Iraqi Islamic Party supporting the Ex-PGov, 
boycotted).  Once the votes were counted, Khalid Hassan Mahdi 
Salih won with 20 of 22 votes to become the new PGOV 
("PGov-Elect").  The Ex-PGov then lobbied PM Maliki, who 
wrote a letter saying the Ex-PGov should remain Governor 
until all legal questions were resolved.  The resulting power 
struggle between the Ex-PGov and PC Chairman who oversaw his 
ouster is becoming increasingly tense and bringing the 
provincial government to a near standstill. 
 
- - - - - - - - - 
Current Situation 
- - - - - - - - - 
¶4.  (C) The Ex-PGov has refused to leave office, insisting he 
is the rightful officeholder.  He has surrounded himself with 
a security force reportedly larger than that which Saddam 
used to travel with, which consists neither of Iraqi Army nor 
Iraqi Police.  Before he was killed by a suicide bomb last 
week, top Counter Terrorism Police Officer in SaD LTC Ahmed 
Subhi al-Fahel, told the A/PGov that he recognized some of 
the Ex-Gov's bodyguards as members of an insurgent movement 
he was pursuing.  He had been planning to identify those 
individuals to the A/Gov but was killed before he could do so. 
¶5.  (C) The PRT has been regarding the A/PGov as the 
legitimate governor since the Ex-PGov removal from office was 
upheld by the Supreme Court.  However, on December 7 the 
Ex-PGov arrived uninvited at a Provincial Joint Coordinating 
Center (PJCC) event in Tikrit sponsored by a retired IA 
General and attended by both the Salah ad Din's 4-1 Brigade 
Commander and the PRT, referring to himself as the active 
PGov.  He imposed himself on the Brigade Commander with 
invitations to visit, trying to seek in any fashion 
acknowledgment from a Coalition Forces (CF) representative 
that he is the PGov. 
¶6.  (C) In other signs of tension and attempts at 
Qintimidation, about two weeks ago, the PC Chair's 17-year old 
cousin was shot and brought to Tikrit Teaching Hospital (TTH) 
for treatment.  The PC Chair called the 4-1 Commander asking 
for assistance.  The Brigade Surgeon traveled to TTH, 
assessed the patient's condition and immediately brought him 
to Contingency Operating Base (COB) Speicher's Contingency 
Support Hospital (CSH),  saving the boy's life.   Initial 
reports were that it was an accidental shooting, but the 
angle of bullet entry, per the Brigade Surgeon, is evidence 
that the near-deadly wound was intentional. 
¶7. (C) The PC Chair, who is currently out of the country, has 
told both the 4-1 Commander and the PRT he intends to issue a 
warrant for the Ex-PGov's arrest.  The issue, however, is 
enforcement, and the PC Chair has asked for CF backup 
assistance, citing a desire to avoid bloodshed.  He told 
A/PGOV he wants to go in and arrest the Ex-PGov once he 
 
BAGHDAD 00003181  002 OF 002 
 
 
returns from Europe, but the A/PGov has cautioned the PC 
Chair against this approach given the Ex-PGov's large 
security force. 
 
¶8. (C) The A/PGov has been walking a fine line trying to 
carry out provincial business while trying to avoid riling up 
the Ex-PGov, since they appear together sometimes at official 
functions and have an official working relationship.  He has 
expressed great frustration over both the embarrassment of 
the impasse and the inability of the SaD provincial 
government to move forward to address the many issues the 
Province faces because Q the standoff.  He has said that if 
the Office of the Presidency can sign a Republican Decree 
acknowlQging the PGov-Elect, Ex-PGov Mutashar would respect 
that.  But he also believes that politics in Baghdad hasQ 
delayed issuance of the decree by the Presidency Council 
which would authorize the Governor-elect to take office. 
 
 
¶9. (C) On December 9, Presidency Council Secretary General 
Nasser al-Ani told Poloff that the Presidency Council had 
received a letter in late November from COR Speaker 
Samarra'ie requesting that the Presidency Council delay 
issuing a decree on the election of the new governor.  Ani 
said the Presidency viewed the situation as a dispute between 
the COR and the SAD PC.  He understood that the only issue 
for the COR was its belief that the PC Chair did not have the 
necessary qualifications to be a PC member (reftel) and 
because he had chaired the session which resulted in the 
former governor's removal, the removal was invalid.  Ani said 
the next action would be by the COR but he was uncertain 
whether it would issue a resolution or whether it would 
pursue the issue in court.   Poloff noted the heightened 
tensions between the former governor and the PC and 
recommended the COR be encouraged to act promptly in 
addressing the matter. 
 
¶10. (C) On the question of whether a Presidency Council 
decree was required following a PC vote to remove a governor, 
Ani said that since it was customary for such decrees to be 
issued following a wide variety of actions that the 
Presidency's view was that it was also appropriate following 
a removal vote.  Ani said this seemed particularly 
appropriate since a decree was required to vote to select a 
governor. 
 
- - - - 
COMMENT 
- - - - 
 
¶11. (C) The atypical support by PM Maliki for the Sunni 
ex-governor after the Supreme Court upheld his dismissal is 
evidence that politics in SaD often divides along 
religious/secular lines, rather than along Sunni-Shia-Kurd 
lines.  The real issue is who is religious and who is 
secular.  The PC Chair has upset IIP types by declaring he 
will build night clubs in Tikrit once the economy gets off 
the ground, for example, but others with a secular view say a 
religion-based government would be bad for Iraq.  The Ex-PGov 
is religious, while the PC Chair, A/PGov, PGov-Elect are all 
secular. 
 
¶12. (C) The delay in resolving the issue of who is the 
governor of SaD has meant provincial government business is 
not getting done.  Retired General Issa told PRToffs that 
possessed a letter from the PC Chair to all relevant offices 
to not honor anything signed by Ex-PGov, as well as a similar 
letter from Ex-PGov to not honor anything signed by the PC 
Chair.  As such, banks in SaD are not honoring the Ex-PGov's 
signature on provincial checks and contractors are not 
getting paid for their work.  A/PGov told PRToffs that in one 
case the Ex-PGov sent some of his security personnel to beat 
up a banker for not cashing government checks.  Other 
important provincial business, such as replacing the DGs for 
Qimportant provincial business, such as replacing the DGs for 
Health and Education, is languishing because of political 
jockeying between the IIP and the rest of the Council.  The 
result for SaD is a spiral down into PG gridlock, with an 
ever increasing chance for violence.  End Comment. 
HILL