Excerpt from document
(S//NF) SUMMARY. On October 25, Prime Minister Nouri
al-Maliki hosted General David Petraeus at his residence,
shortly after returning from visiting the blast sites at the
Ministry of Justice and Baghdad Provincial Council. The PM
stressed that there continued to be successful operations
against Al-Qa'ida (AQI) and former Ba'athists.

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S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 002998

NOFORN
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA/I

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/13/2019
TAGS: PTER, PGOV, PREL, MARR, MOPS, PARM, IZ, KU
SUBJECT: PM MALIKI AND PRESIDENT TALABANI DISCUSS ELECTIONS
AND TERRORIST ATTACKS WITH GENERAL PETRAEUS

REF: BAGHDAD 2851

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

1. (S//NF) SUMMARY. On October 25, Prime Minister Nouri
al-Maliki hosted General David Petraeus at his residence,
shortly after returning from visiting the blast sites at the
Ministry of Justice and Baghdad Provincial Council. The PM
stressed that there continued to be successful operations
against Al-Qa'ida (AQI) and former Ba'athists. General
Petraeus stressed the need to maintain operational tempo
against insurgent/terrorist groups, and asked that the PM
look for ways to speed the judicial support for Special
Operations Forces, saying that the Iraqi judiciary needed to
produce warrants at the speed of incoming intelligence. In
response to General Petraeus's questions on possible
resolution to Iraq-Kuwaiti border issues, Maliki fell back on
traditional positions stating that once Chapter VII is
addressed, the GOI could look at the border issues. Prior to
the PM meeting, President Talabani hosted General Petraeus
for lunch and indicated that House Speaker Ayad Sammaraie
plans to present his proposed terms for a draft election law
at the Presidency Council for National Security (PCNS) to be
held at Talabani's residence. He highly doubted that the
Sunni Arabs or Turkomans would boycott elections. Minister
of Interior Bolani agreed that the speed of judicial support
to operations should be increased. He felt there was good
cooperation between the judiciary and the MOI, but suggested
that cooperation could improve between the Ministry of
Defense and the MOI. He thanked the United States for
supporting the MOI, but said both the U.S. military and the
Embassy must/must be involved in the election process to
ensure it goes smoothly. END SUMMARY.

PM Maliki on Terrorism, Operational Tempo, Kuwait, and
Elections
--------------------------------------------

2. (S//NF) On October 25, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
hosted General David Petraeus at his residence, shortly after
returning from visiting the blast sites at the Ministry of
Justice and Baghdad Provincial Council. The PM stressed that
there continued to be successful operations against Al-Qa'ida
in Iraq (AQI) and former Ba'athists by the Counter-Terrorism
Bureau (CTB or in some circles Counter-Terrorism Service,
CTS). He cautioned that the Police and Army infantry were
still prone to penetration, suggesting up to 800 police or
Ministry of Interior personnel could be Fedeyen loyalists,
specifically comrades or classmates of former regime
elements. (Comment: While infiltration remains an issue we
have no information to confirm the 800 figure. End Comment.)
General Petraeus stressed the need to maintain operational
tempo against insurgent/terrorist groups and suggested the
need to pay bonuses to Iraqi Special Operations Forces -- the
most important forces in the counterterrorism fight. He also
asked that the PM look for ways to speed the judicial support
for Special Operations Forces, saying that the Iraqi
judiciary needed to produce warrants at the speed of incoming
intelligence. Maliki warned that the Council of
Representatives (CoR) was not moving fast enough to pass
authorizing legislation. General Petraeus noted that the
terrorist attacks of the day should increase political
pressure on the CoR to act more quickly. (Comment: Post is
Qpressure on the CoR to act more quickly. (Comment: Post is
working through the interagency to ensure that any National
Security legislation that is passed has appropriate civilian
oversight and is in line with Constitutional guidance. End
Comment)

3. (S//NF) PM Maliki suggested weapons used by AQI and other
extremists were produced locally with members of the former
military-industrial complex under Saddam Hussein and with
local political cover in areas around Mosul or other
Sunni/AQI strongholds. General Petraeus agreed that AQI was
getting stronger in certain areas, such as Fallujah, Taji and
Taramiyah, but also stressed that weapons were still coming
in from Iran in the form of rockets and explosive-formed
projectiles (EFPs). He added that foreign fighter flows from
Syria were down and more should be done to counter malign
Iranian influences.

4. (C) Turning to the elections, Maliki expressed concern
that some wanted to delay the election, in part because they
wanted to prevent further validation of the Iraqi government.
He asked rhetorically why only now was the CoR debating the
election law or looking to remove Independent High Electoral

BAGHDAD 00002998 002 OF 003

Commission (IHEC) members. Maliki asserted that CoR members
needed to step up to their responsibilities; others should
not need to sort out a compromise for them. There was
agreement that an open list was likely, but there remained
fears that the coalitions were still sectarian in nature.
Maliki noted it was unfortunate former-PM Ayad Allawi could
not be brought into his coalition. Maliki reminded the group
that many different factions have their own agendas (reftel).

5. (C) In response to General Petraeus's questions on
possible resolution to Iraq-Kuwaiti border issues, Maliki
said that Chapter VII sanctions connected to Kuwait should be
left until later. Election posturing by Iraqi political
parties would make addressing the Kuwait problem hard for
now. General Petraeus pushed the PM to recognize a border it
has already recognized, and highlighted the potential $700
million that is currently being held in payment of the Oil
for Food (OFF) contracts. Maliki responded by quoting the
Kuwaiti recognition of the Geneva Convention providing access
to the sea. He charged that the Kuwaitis were suspicious of
Iraq and treated the GOI badly in diplomatic fora, producing
forged documents as proof for false arguments. Maliki
suggested approaching the issues with Kuwait one at a time.
Regarding the WMD issue related to Chapter VII, Maliki
offered that the GOI might be able to provide the required
assurances before the January national election.

Talabani discusses Election Law, Chapter VII, Iranian
influence, and Kirkuk
--------------------------------------------

6. (C) Prior to the PM meeting, President Talabani hosted
General Petraeus for lunch at his Baghdad residence. In
answer to Petraeus's inquiry about the status of the election
law, Talabani indicated he might soften his stance on his
previous rejection of increasing parliamentary seats from 275
to 311, saying "there may be a need to increase the total
number of seats in parliament but not to the extent some
people want." He said if the total number of seats is raised
in provinces where there is unusual hikes in voter
registration, places like Mosul would receive an additional
13 seats. Talabani exclaimed, "This is too much. We cannot
accept this." Drilling down on quota seats, Talabani
indicated that there are currently nine parliamentarians from
Kirkuk: five Kurds, two Arab and two Turkomans. Talabani
insisted that quota seats cannot be applied to Kirkuk because
the High Court deemed this to be unconstitutional.

7. (S//NF) General Petraeus stressed the need for security
forces to maintain a high tempo of operations and for the
Iraqi judicial system to swiftly produce warrants to act on
intelligence in a timely fashion. He noted that the number
of foreign fighters entering Iraq has declined to probably
less than 10 per month but that there is a clear attempt to
reestablish AQ cells. He also mentioned that Iran continues
providing money, weapons, and direction -- at which point
Talabani interjected that he believes some Iranians are lying
low waiting to act at a later date. General Petraeus
mentioned that we continue to see on average one rocket and
one EFP attack daily and that next time Talabani spoke to
Qassem Soleimani, he might pass along that we are concerned
about Iranian actions and that accusations about the U.S.
Qabout Iranian actions and that accusations about the U.S.
supporting Jundullah are nonsense. Talabani agreed the
accusations were baseless. Petraeus added that Qassem
Soleimani should also know that his actions play into the
hands of Iran's opponents, as they make it easier to enact
sanctions and to rally international public opinion against
the Iranian Government.

8. (C) With regard to Iraq-Kuwait relations and UN Chapter
VII sanctions, Talabani recognized the United States'
assistance. He said that there is little or no controversy
about the Iraq-Kuwait land border and understood that,
because of the GOI's reservations about the maritime border,
the Kuwaitis would demand reaffirmation of UNSCR 833 before
moving forward on other issues. Talabani surmised that some
kind of statement or letter of Iraqi commitment to all its
agreement with Kuwait could be issued. Talabani appeared
open to Petraeus's suggestion to close out the remaining OFF
contracts.

MinInt Bolani highlights security cooperation and need for
more assistance
--------------------------------------------

BAGHDAD 00002998 003 OF 003

9. (C) General Petraeus visited Minister of Interior Jawad
Bolani to push for a continued increase in operational tempo
against AQI and other violent extremists and reminded him
that while operations against Sunni groups were needed, Shia
militants should be targeted for increased operations as
well. Bolani agreed that the speed of judicial support to
operations should be increased, but stated that he felt there
was good cooperation between the judiciary and the MOI. He
did suggest that cooperation could improve between the
Ministry of Defense and the MOI. Bolani pointed out that
police schools in Baghdad and Ninewa were both graduating
officer classes, and that Babil was still training regular
police forces. He highlighted the police performance against
insurgents in Anbar, and suggested the police should get more
credit within the GOI security structure for both the quality
of their fight and their sacrifices. Bolani acknowledged
that infiltration of the police was a concern but added
"personalities are harder than weapons to detect." Petraeus
suggested that Iraq needed to start thinking now about steps
to take, as support for Iraqi police forces begins to shift
from DoD to the State Department, and also added that the
next time Bolani speaks with Qassem Soleimani, he should tell
him that General Petraeus wonders why there is still on
average one EFP and on rocket attack per day in Iraq. Bolani
added that election security was his largest challenge, to
include security for observers and transfer of power. He
thanked the United States for supporting the MOI, but
stressed that both the U.S. military and the Embassy
must/must be involved in the election process to ensure it
goes smoothly.

10. (U) This cable was cleared by CENTCOM.

HILL