Excerpt from document
(C) SUMMARY: Prior to the Cassation Chamber's February 3
decision ordering the Independent High Electoral Commission
(IHEC) to allow all candidates who have appealed their
de-Ba'athfication disqualifications to remain on the ballot
(Reftel), PRToffs met with two delisted candidates from the
Iraqi Unity Coalition (IUC).

Full Document
ClassificationSECRET//NOFORN Header
VZCZCXYZ0001
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHGB #0336/01 0391456
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 081456Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6518
INFO RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
Content
C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 000336

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/I

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/07/2020
TAGS: PGOV, KCOR, PREL, KDEM, IZ, IR
SUBJECT: PRT SALAH AD DIN: DELISTED CANDIDATES DESCRIBE
OBSTACLES, HARASSMENT

REF: BAGHDAD 0296

Classified By: PRT Salah Ad Din Team Leader David C. Stewart, for reaso
ns: 1.4 (b) and (d)

1. (U) This is a Salah Ad Din Provincial Reconstruction Team
(PRT) message.

2. (C) SUMMARY: Prior to the Cassation Chamber's February 3
decision ordering the Independent High Electoral Commission
(IHEC) to allow all candidates who have appealed their
de-Ba'athfication disqualifications to remain on the ballot
(Reftel), PRToffs met with two delisted candidates from the
Iraqi Unity Coalition (IUC). Both stated their belief that
the delistings were politically motivated and had little to
do with any links to the Ba'ath Party. They claimed pressure
to withdraw their candidacies or even pay off party leaders
to clear their names, and expressed serious concern for their
personal safety. Both alleged Iranian influence at the root
of these developments. End Summary

A TALE OF TWO CANDIDATES: THE SMALL TOWN MAYOR
--------------------------------------------- ---------

3. (C) Shouket Abdulrahman Ahmad, the mayor of Yethrib,
Salah Ad Din Province, told PRToff on February 1 that he
learned of the specific charges behind his delisting on a
recent visit to the Accountability and Justice commission
(AJC) in Baghdad. Responding to the charges required a
second meeting, at which time he presented his case along
with supporting documentation. The AJC rejected his request
for reinstatement, and advised that he appeal to the Supreme
Court. At no point did the AJC provide Shouket documentation
to support the charges against him.

4. (C) Shouket emphasized that he is not a player on the
national stage, but simply the mayor of a small nahiya
(district). He contended the AJC was acting at the behest of
Iran and that its thinly-veiled purpose was to interfere with
the elections to enhance the candidacy of non-secular
parties. He reported that after presenting his case and
documents to the commission, he was told the charges against
him would be dropped if he agreed to stand down as a
candidate. Numerous other Iraqi contacts in the area have
told PRToff that Iran is actively trying to influence the
elections, and this appears to be a widely held belief,
particularly among Sunnis.

AND THE FRIEND OF USF
---------------------

5. (C) Raad Khatab Muhammed Aliou, a candidate from Al-Alam,
has worked with U.S. Forces for years and participated in the
USG-sponsored International Visitors Leadership Program
(IVLP) in 2004. On February 1 Raad told PRTOff he learned of
his delisting through a phone call January 21 and immediately
travelled to Baghdad to address the AJC. He said the
Commission claimed the delisting was an error and provided
Raad, along with several other delistees, with a memo
reinstating him as a candidate.

6. (C) But two days later the AJC called him back, saying he
was once again delisted because of ties to terrorism. Raad
returned to the Commission bearing his IVLP certificate and a
photo of himself with Former Defense Secretary Rumsfeld as
evidence of his support of the U.S. Although the AJC did not
specify the charges against him, they told him they could not
reinstate him, referring him instead to a judge. Raad
consulted with a judge, who told him he could only review his
case after the elections. Meanwhile, Raad stated he had also
received numerous phone calls from a foreign source telling
him to pay up to $100,000 to get himself reinstated. He
ignored the calls.

INTERNAL PARTY CORRUPTION
QINTERNAL PARTY CORRUPTION
-------------------------

7. (C) Raad confided to PRToff that he believed the source of
the trouble is within the IUC. He alleged that Ammar Jabr
Khalil Abdul Hamid, the leader and first candidate of the
coalition, was using funds to discredit and remove serious
competition from within the list. Raad claimed Ammar was
funneling funds through the Provincial Investment Commission
Chairman to the Committee in exchange for delisting
candidates, paying roughly $10,000 for each of five
candidates. He was aware of the troubles experienced by
Mayor Shouket, whom he claimed was also a victim of Ammar's
scheme. Now, because names of delisted candidates have been

put into the public domain, both candidates worry that they
could be targeted by Iranian agents. Raad told PRToff he
believed he would have either been kidnapped or killed if he
had continued to fight his delisting.
HILL