9.6 |
27 June 2007 to April 2008
Shia
politicians, including Prime Minister Maliki, typically labelled
Sunni oppositionists
and
insurgents as Ba’athists.
“Shia fears
of a Ba’athist resurgence, however exaggerated, are genuinely
held
(and are
shared, to a limited extent, by the Kurds). We judge they will
limit the Shia
appetite
for reconciliation with the Sunni more broadly.”
On 20
August, Mr Mohammed al-Hasani, Governor of Muthanna province
and a Shia, was
killed when
a roadside bomb exploded next to his car in
Samawah.103
BBC
News reported that
Mr al-Hasani was a “key figure” in the Badr organisation,
which
had
“clashed frequently with the Mehdi army militia loyal to Shia
cleric Muqtada al-Sadr for
control of
areas in the south of Iraq”.
Maj Gen
Binns reported a couple of days after the killing that “all
indications are that
the Iraqis
believe JAM to be responsible, although Muqtada al-Sadr has gone on
record
condemning
both this and the previous assassination of the Governor of
Qadisiyah”.104
240.
Mr Browne’s
Private Secretary wrote to Mr Brown’s Private Secretary on 21
August
about the
handover of Basra Palace.105
The letter
said:
“Handover
on 29 August is of course not without risk, which predominantly
revolves
around
equipment matters. Mitigating measures are, however, in place,
following
direction
from General Petraeus … In presentational terms, our
communications
posture for
the handover of Basra Palace will be low key. This is set against
the
context of
the broader process leading towards Provincial Iraqi Control and
the run-
up to the
US reports on Iraq in mid-September. With specific regard to Basra
Palace,
officials
in Baghdad are actively engaged with the Iraqi authorities to
develop a
media
handling plan that matches our intent and portrays the handover as
an
Iraqi‑led
process …
“There will
be no ceremony or media event at Basra Palace itself for the
handover,
but a
facility for Iraqi media at the Contingency Operating Base (COB) is
planned
where our
aim will be to emphasise the effective training and support
provided by
MND(SE)
forces to the PPF which has made handover possible.”
241.
The letter
confirmed that the combined handover of the PJCC and Basra
Palace
would mean
“no Multi-National Force presence in Basra City”.
103
BBC
News, 20 August
2007, Roadside
bomb kills Iraq governor.
104
Minute
Binns to CJO, 22 August 2007, ‘GOC HQ MND(SE) – Southern Iraq
Update – 22 August 2007’.
105
Letter
Forber to Turner, 21 August 2007, ‘Iraq: Handover of Basra
Palace’.
227