Excerpt from document
(S//NF) Summary: Minister of Interior Jawad Bolani told
EmbOffs on August 31 that his primary focus now is security
leading up to the national election, without which Iraq
cannot have an effective democratic process. An important
aspect of this to Bolani is the Iraqi government's response
to attacks and prevention of future ones, and he laid out for
EmbOffs the MOI's extensive investigation into the bombings
on August 19.

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Content
S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 002388

NOFORN
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/04/2019
TAGS: MARR, PTER, PGOV, IZ
SUBJECT: IRAQI MINISTER OF INTERIOR INVESTIGATES ATTACKS,
CRITICIZES POLITICIANS

Classified By: DCM Robert Ford for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

1. (S//NF) Summary: Minister of Interior Jawad Bolani told
EmbOffs on August 31 that his primary focus now is security
leading up to the national election, without which Iraq
cannot have an effective democratic process. An important
aspect of this to Bolani is the Iraqi government's response
to attacks and prevention of future ones, and he laid out for
EmbOffs the MOI's extensive investigation into the bombings
on August 19. He reported that the MOI assessed Al Qaeda in
Iraq to be responsible, not Ba'thists or Syria, and argued
that other GOI leaders have made public accusations for
political posturing rather than listening to the security
experts. Bolani expressed frustration with Prime Minister
Maliki for his haste and short-sightedness, which he said
weaken the whole government. Bolani also confirmed to
EmbOffs that his own political party, the Constitutional
Party, is exploring alliances for the upcoming national
election. End Summary.

-----------------------------------
Security Ahead of National Election
-----------------------------------

2. (C) Minister of Interior Jawad Bolani told Pol-Mil
Minister Counselor and Political Minister Counselor on August
31 that building capacity in the Ministry of Interior (MOI)
and its forces is critical to Iraqi stability especially
leading up to the national election in January. Without a
secure environment, Bolani told EmbOffs, the Government of
Iraq (GOI) cannot encourage the public to go out to the polls
to vote. Bolani said that in all of his meetings with U.S.
officials, he emphasizes that Iraq still faces security
threats and that the MOI still needs assistance with capacity
development. He said investigations and counterterrorism
skills have improved due to the training provided by the
U.S.; the MOI now needs training in intelligence as well.

-------------------------------------
MOI Investigation into Recent Attacks
-------------------------------------

3. (S//NF) Bolani said that the recent bombings targeting the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and the Ministry of Finance
(MOF) were carefully planned and conducted by Al Qaeda in
Iraq (AQI). He said that in record time, the MOI was able to
respond by capturing the perpetrators, locating the
facilities used to manufacture the bombs, tracking the
vehicles, and identifying linkages between individuals
involved and the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), an
AQI-affiliated group. Bolani said that all of the evidence
collected make clear that the attack was carried out on
behalf of ISI and AQI.

4. (S//NF) Bolani showed EmbOffs a folder of evidence,
including photos of the Iraqi suicide bomber who targeted the
MFA and an accompanying memo from the MOI's National Command
Center, which Bolani said was distributed in December 2008,
warning that the individual was a potential suicide bomber.
The individual had been transferred from Coalition Forces
detention at Camp Bucca to GOI custody and then released late
last year in the government amnesty, and his family had
contacted MOI authorities to report their concerns he
intended to commit a violent crime.

5. (S//NF) Bolani said that the MOI had detained 38
individuals, of which seven were considered directly involved
in the attack. Others were the bomber's associates and/or
intermediaries, including the man in Mosul who sold the
vehicle used in the attack and the man who owned a garage
Qvehicle used in the attack and the man who owned a garage
where it was subsequently parked. Bolani said that all 38
detained were Iraqis and that the MOI had not discovered
evidence that the bomber had spent significant time outside
of Iraq. The Minister told EmbOffs he was proud of the way
in which his officers carried out their investigation.

------------------------------
Disagreement on Usual Suspects
------------------------------

6. (S//NF) Bolani said that the MOI's technical analysis did
not support a link between AQI and Ba'thists, contrary to
accusations by other Iraqi leaders. The MOI does not know
the nature of the connection to Syria but does not assess it
logical that Syria would have been involved in this attack.
Bolani said that for some time Syria has suffered from
international isolation, but recently avenues have begun to
open with the U.S. administration, the European Union, and
with other Arab states. Bolani argued it wouldn't make sense

BAGHDAD 00002388 002 OF 002

for Syria to jeopardize those new avenues by actively
supporting such an attack. Bolani said this doesn't mean
Syria should be forgiven for its other transgressions,
including allowing terrorists to cross its border. Syria's
mentality is that it needs to play a continuous role in Iraq,
sometimes using this as an excuse to interfere with Iraq's
democratic system.

----------------------------------
Convincing Iraqi Political Leaders
----------------------------------

7. (S//NF) Bolani told EmbOffs that he had presented the MOI
evidence to the Iraqi National Security Council on August 30,
briefing representatives of the Ministries of Defense,
Foreign Affairs, Finance, Justice, and the Joint Headquarters
Chief of Staff on how the attacks were carried out, who
planned and executed them, and how the MOI conducted its
investigation. Bolani told the GOI leaders that those were
the facts and it was up to them to decide whom to publicly
accuse. Bolani opined to EmbOffs that the accusations
against Ba'thists and Syria may have been political posturing
for the upcoming national election, which reflects poorly on
the government especially during election time. He told
EmbOffs that the closer Iraq gets to the national election,
the more political challenges will surface, and that the
state's failure to listen to its appropriate
institutions-such as its security experts-weakens the state
as a whole.

8. (S//NF) Bolani criticized PM Maliki in particular, saying
Bolani had advised Maliki to wait until a clear case could be
built before making public pronouncements about the attack.
Unfortunately, Bolani said, the PM's inner circle presented
him with skewed information and he hastened to judgment.
Bolani said that if the PM believed in sharing power and
believed in GOI institutions, the response to the attack
would have been handled differently. Instead, only three or
four people close to the PM have influence with Maliki, and
this hinders the effectiveness of the entire government.

-------------------------
Bolani's Political Future
-------------------------

9. (C) Pol MinCouns asked Bolani for his view of the current
political scene and his own political party's plans. Bolani
said that so far the only alliance declared for the national
election is the Iraqi National Alliance (INA), a reprise of
the winning coalition in 2005 including the Islamic Supreme
Council of Iraq, the Sadrists, Ibrahim Jaafari and Ahmed
Chalabi, but not Maliki. Bolani said he is not optimistic
about this alliance. At the same time, Bolani said the INA
members are in a stronger position than Maliki since they
made their decision and announced it definitively, while
Maliki continues to equivocate.

10. (C) Bolani said that his own party, the Constitutional
Party, has two options: either to join a coalition of
nationalist groups or to run in the election alone. He
indicated that he would prefer a nationalist coalition
including Sunnis, Shia, liberals, tribal groups, and others,
as long as all seek to work for the interests of the Iraq as
a whole. Bolani said he's been in contact with many other
parties, as they all want to join forces with the Minister of
Interior.

11. (S//NF) Comment: Bolani presented an image of confidence
and competence, while painting Maliki as impulsive and
reactive. It was predictable behavior for a key minister who
one week earlier may have faced dismissal by the PM for
paying insufficient attention to his security brief and
Qpaying insufficient attention to his security brief and
focusing heavily on his personal political ambitions. It was
also clear his political future remains very much on his
mind. Nevertheless, Bolani's assessment of the August 19
attacks and those responsible largely conform to our own. We
have had experts from the U.S. Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms
(ATF) Agency providing expert analysis of the two August 19
bomb sites to the Interior Ministry's National Intelligence
and Information Agency (NIIA). The NIIA is also seeking ATF
Advice on post blast site control and exploitation. End
Comment.
HILL