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Mowaffak al Rubaie, national security advisor to PM Maliki, was named as a key participant in the discussions. IraqSlogger's Eason Jordan contacted him directly, querying the authenticity of the letter, to which al-Rubaie responded by email with the words, "no comment."
While this is clearly not a confirmation of the validity of the letter, Rubaie could have easily referred to the document as a hoax if he so desired.
The document, whose authenticity has not been verified, appears on what looks like official letterhead, and names members of the Mahdi Army leadership who are allegedly slated to be relocated to Iran with the full cooperation of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. The date January 17, 2007 appears at the top.
A second tier of the Mahdi Army is advised to relocate to southern Iraq, according to the letter.
The original allegations of a secret warning from Maliki to Sadr first appeared in Peyamner, a Kurdish news agency.
The whereabouts of Sadr have been the subject of much speculation in the recent weeks. Various Iraqi and American officials have said that Sadr fled to Iran last month, but this has been vehemently denied by a number of Sadr’s aides, who have insisted he is in Najaf.
Iran has officially rejected claims that Sadr is in that country. "He is not in Iran . . . this claim is unfounded and part of the US psychological warfare against Iran," Mohammad-Ali Hosseini, Foreign Ministry spokesman, said at his weekly press conference on Sunday, according to the IRNA.
However, an Iranian Arab dissident group has announced that top Mahdi Army officials are in southwest Iran, under the escort of Iranian guards, as Slogger reported earlier. The group does not allege that Sadr himself is in Iran. It is worth noting that this area of Iran borders the southern marshlands of Iraq, where the alleged official document indicates that the "second tier" of the Sadrist leadership should be sent.
In an exclusive, IraqSlogger reported last week that it is possible that even his closest aides do not know the whereabouts Sadr himself.
One detail leaves some doubt in the minds of Slogger analysts over the authenticity of the document. In the copy obtained by IraqSlogger, the PM allegedly refers to Muqtada al-Sadr with an honorific term reserved for very highly esteemed Shi`a leaders (dama dhilluhu). It seems unlikely that Maliki, who is not a follower of Sadr in the religious sense, would use this term to refer to the cleric.
While this alone does not disprove the authenticity of the document, especially in light of Rubaie's refusal to comment, it would lend slight credence to the possibility that this letter was produced by anti-government, anti-Sadr groups who would like to portray the prime minister as under Sadr's thrall, and involved with him in a pro-Iranian conspiracy.
Below is an image of the letter, as obtained by IraqSlogger, followed by the English translation produced by Lt. Col. Rick Francona , as posted on Alphabet City. (We have made one alteration to the Francona translation. Francona rendered dama dhilluhu as "God Bless." There is no English equivalent, but Slogger has changed this to the more appropriate "May his authority endure." The Francona translation is otherwise sound.)
In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
Republic of Iraq Office of the Prime Minister
Number: 147/3/3/Q Date: 14/1/ 2007
Secret, Personal, and Urgent
Based on the telephone conversation with His Excellency Muqtada al-Sadr (May his authority endure), and on consultations between myself and the honorable Dr. Mowaffak al Rubaie, and to maintain our great accomplishments, and the present conditions, we would like to hide the leadership of the jaysh al-mahdi (al-Mahdi Army), those top leaders connected with Iranian Revolutionary Guard organization – names attached - to prevent them from being arrested or killed at the hands of American forces, for a temporary period of time. It is preferable to send them to Iran until the crisis abates. Likewise, it is preferable to send the second level leadership to the southern governorates, bearing in mind that there are numerous attempts to convince the Americans to maintain the situation as is. All administrative and security issues regarding the transfer of the leadership have been completed.
We expect the execution, please advise.
Regards.
Attached names:
1. 'Abbas al-Kufi 2. 'Amr Muhaysin Khawajah 3. Salim Husayn 4. Azhar al-Maliki 5. Shaykh Farhan al-Sa'idi (al-Najaf) 6. Sayyid Fadil al-Shari'a (consultant to the prime minister) 7. Sayyid Riyadh al-Nuri (al-Najaf) 8. 'Ali Al-Fartusi 9. Haydar al-'Araji 10. Ahmad al-Darajji. 11. 'Amr al-Sa'idi
Copy to:
1. Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran - Baghdad 2. Leadership of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq 3. Office of the Sayyid Martyr al-Sadr (May his authority endure)
//signed// Nuri al-Maliki, Prime Minister. ../1/2007
