US embassy cable - 05BAGHDAD3006

S E C R E T BAGHDAD 003006 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NOFORN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/18/2015 
TAGS: MOPS, PHUM, PTER, PINS, PINR, IZ, Detainees 
SUBJECT: ITG REQUESTS RELEASE OF MEHDI ABDHMED AL-KHALISI 
 
 
Classified By: Charge d' Affaires David M. Satterfield for Reasons 1.4 
(b) and (d) 
 
1.  (S/NF) MNF-I and Embassy are receiving frequent 
and fervent requests from Prime Minister Ibrahim 
Ja'afari, Minister of State for National Security Abd 
al-Karim al-Anzi, and National Security Advisor 
Mowaffak al-Rubaie for the release of detainee Mehdi 
Abdmehd al-Khalisi (MP#124), currently held by MNF-I 
at Camp Cropper, near Baghdad International Airport. 
 
2.  (S/NF) Al-Anzi has told Embassy contacts that Mr. 
al-Khalisi is a close personal friend of his, 
Mr. Rubaie's, and the PM's. He has also said that 
Mr. al-Khalisi is innocent of any offense, and that 
al-Anzi would be happy to face a judge in his place. 
(Mr. al-Khalisi, who was detained on July 17, 2003, 
is being investigated and is likely to face eventual 
criminal charges in the Central Criminal Court of 
Iraq.) 
 
3.  (S/NF) Mr. al-Khalisi, an Iraqi national who lived 
in Iran for twenty-three years, returned to Iraq in 
2003 to open an Islamic Cultural Office, which 
produced a weekly anti-Coalition newspaper.  He is 
believed to be the founder and leader of the Iranian- 
backed Muntada al-Wilaya (MAW), which carried out the 
assassination of Ba'ath Party leaders. 
 
4.  (S/NF) A source within MAW claims to have seen an 
enciphered telegram from Mr. al-Khalisi to Brigadier 
Ahmed Fourauzandeh, the deputy commander of Ramazan 
Command in the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Group, in 
which Mr. al-Khalisi claims responsibility for an 
attack against six British military police officers in 
am-Mijar al-Kabir in June 2003. 
 
5.  (S/NF) Another MAW source of unknown reliability 
claims that that Brigadier Fourauzandeh has authorized 
an expenditure of up to $500,000 for operations to 
secure Mr. al-Khalisi's release, and that senior ITG 
officials have received telephone calls from the 
Brigadier requesting assistance. 
 
6.  (S/NF) MNF-I has already informed ITG leadership, 
including the PM, that Mr. al-Khalisi poses a 
significant security threat and faces serious criminal 
charges; MNF-I is also preparing a declassified 
summary of the information above which can be passed to 
the PM, Mr. al-Anzi, and Mr. Rubaie.  Whether this will 
quiet calls for his release remains to be seen. 
Satterfield