VZCZCXRO7621
RR RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDH RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #0193/01 0251700
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 251700Z JAN 10 ZDS
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6299
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 000193 
 
C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y (CAPTION ADDED) 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV SCUL ASEC PTER KISL IZ
SUBJECT: RELIGIOUS BATTLEGROUND NO LONGER, MUSTANSIRIYAH 
UNIVERSITY RETURNS TO ACADEMIC RESPECTABILITY 
 
BAGHDAD 00000193  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  ePRT Baghdad Northeast Team Leader met in 
late December with new Mustansiriyyah University Vice 
Chancellor for Administrative Affairs, Dr. Adil al-Baghdadi, 
to review efforts to reduce the influence of extremist 
political and religious groups on campus.  Baghdadi described 
2009 as a lost academic year due to battles for control 
between students affiliated with the Sadrist Trend and the 
Badr Organization, and students affiliated with rival 
political entities.  He noted that still powerful and radical 
sectarians exist in the student body and among the faculty 
and administration.  Baghdadi highlighted his ambitious plans 
for reform and his need for financial support in modernizing 
one of the largest universities in Iraq, with 65,000 
students.  He predicted that a plurality of students would 
not vote due to disillusionment with the political process. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
 
NEW LEADERSHIP AT MUSTANSIRIYAH UNIVERSITY 
 
¶2.  (SBU) In a December 30, 2009, meeting with ePRT Northeast 
Team Leader, Vice Chancellor Dr. Adil al-Baghdadi, a 
professor of business administration who has worked in the 
Ministry of Higher Education for 30 years, stressed that a 
new team is in town.  He and the University's new President 
(Ihsan Khadum Shareif), both nominated by Prime Minister Nuri 
al-Maliki, have been in office since early December.  They 
are Shi'a (the University President is from Najaf and 
Baghdadi described him as "religious but progressive") and 
have worked together before.  Their immediate mandate is to 
return the University to academic respectability by, in part, 
marginalizing the influence of the Sadrist Trend within the 
University.  The University, composed of 12 colleges, has 
65,000 students, and as many as 1500 lecturers.  At one time 
favored by Saddam and a redoubt of Ba'athist influence, it 
has received only minimal financial assistance since 1990. 
In the past nine months, it has had five Presidents, at one 
point having three rival administrations simultaneously. 
(NOTE:  In mid-2009 the Ministry of Higher Education 
appointed a University president who was not recognized by 
the University's 12 colleges, which continued to recognize 
the incumbent.  Shortly afterwards, a third individual was 
named University President by the Prime Minister's office. 
All three have now been replaced by the new University 
President, who has full faculty support.  END NOTE.) 
 
 
RADICALS REMAIN ON CAMPUS 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Baghdadi described the past nine months as a time 
when the University could not properly be called an academic 
institution but was rather a religious and political 
battleground between  student  supporters of the Sadrist 
Trend and the Badr Organization and students affiliated with 
rival political entities.  (NOTE: The Sadrists and Badr 
Organization are technically allies within the Iraqi National 
Alliance. END NOTE.) Baghdadi noted that still powerful and 
radical sectarians remain in the student body and among the 
faculty and administration.  Student unions were closed last 
October and some of their leaders were arrested, but before 
accepting his appointment, Baghdadi negotiated with student 
leaders, whom he described as intent on retaining influence 
in, and extracting money from, the University. 
 
 
UNIVERSITY NOW RUN BY "ACADEMIC RULES" 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Baghdadi believes he has succeeded in returning 
reputable faculty and administrators to a position of control 
in daily operations.  He described the University as once 
again being an institution run "by academic rules, not by 
Qagain being an institution run "by academic rules, not by 
religious or political rules."  He pointed to the absence of 
religious signs inside the campus (although still prevalent 
outside), something he said was accepted even by Jaysh Al 
Mahdi (JAM) for the sake of academic integrity, and to the 
firing of as many as 50 staff members for corruption.  He 
indicated that salaries going to "ghost employees" had been 
one mechanism for siphoning off the University,s limited 
budget.  He described security within the University as 
"good," with "risks down 80 percent from 2008."  Baghdadi 
admitted, however, that risks still exist and that his 
ability to effect immediate change is limited by the danger 
involved.  His strategy is to reduce the authority of radical 
religious figures as much as possible, and eliminate them 
over time.  He described 2010 as a "test year" to see if the 
University can truly be returned to the stature it occupied 
before 2003, and especially before 1990. 
 
 
FIVE-YEAR PLAN FOR UNIVERSITY REFORM 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Baghdadi has presented a five-year plan to the 
 
BAGHDAD 00000193  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
Prime Minister to return the University to academic 
prominence, but he has more immediate needs.  To strengthen 
the legitimacy of the new administration and undermine the 
control of religious groups, Baghdadi wants to show students 
tangible signs of progress now.  To that end, he asked for 
U.S. military financial assistance with several projects.  He 
prioritized these as renovating the central library, 
upgrading laboratories and rehabilitating classrooms. 
Baghdadi also mentioned improvements in common areas such as 
the cafeteria, student center and gardens.  In a subsequent 
meeting, he clarified that his current budget is only USD 100 
million, when he needed as much as USD 250 million. 
Two-thirds of the current budget goes to salaries and the 
remainder to maintenance and some equipment; none goes to 
capital improvements.  (NOTE:  The ePRT will follow up with 
Baghdadi in the coming weeks to see how the ePRT, Embassy's 
PAS or brigade might be able to assist.  END NOTE.) 
 
 
STUDENTS NOT YET EXCITED ABOUT ELECTIONS 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The University held a meeting with students 
December 30 to discuss voting and other avenues of 
involvement in the March elections.  The faculty is also 
preparing a pamphlet on the elections for the student body. 
Baghdadi and a colleague were not optimistic about strong 
student participation in the upcoming elections.  They 
predicted that voter participation overall would be between 
40 to 55 percent, with the electorate falling into three 
categories:  those "manipulated by religious sects" who will 
vote as directed by religious leaders; educated elites 
disappointed with the al-Maliki government who will vote for 
change in a secular direction; and a plurality who will not 
vote because they are disillusioned with the political 
process and do not believe that even a change in government 
will bring about a change in living conditions. 
 
HILL