Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05BAGHDAD2436
2005-06-08 11:32:00
CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN
Embassy Baghdad
Cable title:  

TEXT OF PRESIDENT TALABANI'S NON-PAPER TO PM JAFARI

Tags:  PGOV PREL KDEM IZ 
pdf how-to read a cable
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 002436 

SIPDIS

NOFORN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/07/2025
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: TEXT OF PRESIDENT TALABANI'S NON-PAPER TO PM JAFARI

REF: BAGHDAD 2427

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires James F. Jeffrey for reason
1.4 (b)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 002436

SIPDIS

NOFORN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/07/2025
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: TEXT OF PRESIDENT TALABANI'S NON-PAPER TO PM JAFARI

REF: BAGHDAD 2427

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires James F. Jeffrey for reason
1.4 (b)


1. (C) Below is the full text of President Talabani's
non-paper to Prime Minister Jafari; referred to in REFTEL.


2. (C) BEGIN TEXT:

His Excellency the Prime Minister
Dr. Ibrahim al-Jafari

With Greetings and Respect,

The Kurdish Alliance - an equal partner in the Unified
Coalition of Iraq - has noticed with much regret that in
forming the Government in accordance with the Protocol of
Agreement between the two sides, you have departed from some
of the most important provisions of the agreement and
violated some of the most important articles of the TAL.
Your Excellency, it has been noticed that you are clearly
acting unilaterally and avoiding the content and spirit of
the agreement concluded between the Alliance and the
Coalition as well as the TAL which should prevail until the
completion of the permanent constitution.

While we are summarizing to your Excellency our remarks, we
look forward from now on to conformity with the facts in
accordance with the Law and the provisions of the Agreement
for the sake of continued brotherhood and cooperation between
us in order not to be forced to use our rights in accordance
with Article (2) of the Protocol of Agreement because we can
not keep silent and accept the imposed status quo which is
contrary to the Law and the Agreement.

First: You have omitted from the oath performed by the
Ministers a very important and a principal provision, which
is "its Democratic and Unionist system."

Second: Your speech did not mention Federalism and Kurdistan,
the great martyrs, and the crimes of Anfal committed against
the people of Iraqi Kurdistan while it included language and
detailed phrases about simple matters.

Third: Your long speech did not mention and condemn the
policies of ethnic cleansing and the necessity of removing
its impact as well as the implementation of Article 58 of the
TAL.

Fourth: You have announced important appointments without
referring in advance to the Cabinet and the Presidency of the
Republic and even without consulting with them. You have

appointed Mr. Laith Kubba as a Spokesman for the Transitional
Government without the agreement of the more important party
in the Coalitionan despite the fact that he (Mr. Kubba) is
known for his chauvinistic and antagonistic position towards
Federalism as well as his provocative statements in America
against the rights of the Kurdish people which were confirmed
by the TAL, despite Mr. Kubba's antagonistic position towards
the political parties of the Iraqi opposition and his
promotion of deceiving concepts with the Americans, which
caused them to commit the mistakes we are still suffering
from. Also, the appointment of a member of the Da'wa party
at the rank of a minister without the advance approval of the
cabinet and the Presidency of the Republic.

Fifth: You have created nine ministerial committees totally
connected to your Excellency thus transforming the deputy
prime ministers to ministers of state without work or
functions despite your knowledge that Dr. Rowsch Nouri
Shaways represents the second list in the National Assembly
and the second nationality of the Iraqi people. This is
considered an aggression on the rights of the representatives
of the Kurdish people and national consensus.

Sixth: You have limited, without legal justification and any
rights, the authorities of Dr. Barham Ahmed Salih who is the
Minister of Planning and International Development and
confiscated half of his rights instead of adding other rights
as agreed with the Coalition on the day of the formation of
the Government.

Dear Respected Brother,

We come now to your legal violations:

First: You are ignoring the fact that the Prime Ministry is
part of the Government. Instead, you are acting as if you
are the Government and you are limiting its authority to
yourself alone, which is a clear violation of the provisions
of Article 24 stipulating the following:

Article 24:

(A) The Iraqi Transitional Government, which is also
referred to in this Law as the federal government, shall
consist of the National Assembly; the Presidency Council; the
Council of Ministers, including the Prime Minister; and the
judicial authority.
(B) The three authorities, legislative, executive, and
judicial, shall be separate and independent of one another.

(C) No official or employee of the Iraqi Transitional
Government shall enjoy immunity for criminal acts committed
while in office.

Article 25 stipulates the following:

The Iraqi Transitional Government shall have exclusive
competence in the following matters:

(A) Formulating foreign policy and diplomatic
representation; negotiating, signing, and ratifying
international treaties and agreements; formulating foreign
economic and trade policy and sovereign debt policies;

(B) Formulating and executing national security policy,
including creating and maintaining armed forces to secure,
protect, and guarantee the security of the country's borders
and to defend Iraq;

(C) Formulating fiscal policy, issuing currency, regulating
customs, regulating commercial policy across regional and
governorate boundaries in Iraq, drawing up the national
budget of the State, formulating monetary policy, and
establishing and administering a central bank;

(D) Regulating weights and measures and formulating a
general policy on wages;

(E) Managing the natural resources of Iraq, which belongs
to all the people of all the regions and governorates of
Iraq, in consultation with the governments of the regions and
the administrations of the governorates, and distributing the
revenues resulting from their sale through the national
budget in an equitable manner proportional to the
distribution of population throughout the country, and with
due regard for areas that were unjustly deprived of these
revenues by the previous regime, for dealing with their
situations in a positive way, for their needs, and for the
degree of development of the different areas of the country;

(F) Regulating Iraqi citizenship, immigration, and asylum;
and

(G) Regulating telecommunications policy.

Is this the way you advise everybody that the Government is
composed of the Presidency of the State, the Presidency of
the National Assembly, the Prime Minister and the Council of
Ministers, and that settling and prescribing the policies of
the Government are among the duties and authorities of the
three branches and not the Prime Minister alone.

The Government Statement

1- The Government statement prescribes the public policy of
the Government. The three branches of the Government have the
right to see, discuss and approve public policy before it is
presented to the National Assembly. However you ignored all
of this and did it alone.

2- The Government statement did not mention Article 58 of the
TAL as well as the suffering of the Kurdish people as a
result of the ethnic cleansing policy.

3- In preparing the Statement you violated the principle of
agreement in accordance with paragraph (2) of Article (1) and
paragraph (5),which necessitates political agreement before
taking principal political, security, economic and
administrative decisions.
4- The Government Statement did not mention: the full
implementation of Article 58 of the TAL leading to the
determination of administrative affiliations of disputed
areas including the Governorate of Kirkuk, as stipulated in
paragraph (1) of (Fourth).
5- The Government Statement ignored Article (3) of the
Agreement between the Unified Coalition and the Kurdish
Alliance.

Regarding Kirkuk

It appears from the Government Statement and your clear
practical approval in your decisions regarding stopping
payment of the amount approved by the former Government of
Kirkuk that your Excellency is practically taking an opposing
view contrary, if not antagonistic, to the rights of the
Kurdish people regarding Kirkuk.

1- Your Government Statement did not mention the necessity of
the full implementation of Article 58 as stipulated in
paragraph (1) of (Fourth).

2- Your Excellency's violation of the following text stated
in paragraph (2) of the (Fourth):
"The Transitional Government, within a period not exceeding
one month, shall activate the normalization procedures
including providing funds to finance the Commission for the
Normalization of the situation in Kirkuk and the Commission
for Property Disputes."

3- Instead of implementing the above-mentioned text, you have
decided haphazardly and unilaterally to stop payment of the
amount approved for Kirkuk by the former Governorate of
Kirkuk without consulting the Council of Ministers or the
Presidency of the State.

Ignoring the issue of Kirkuk is in our view a very serious
matter, and a clear violation of the agreement concluded
between the Coalition and the Alliance and a clear violation
of the TAL and the Alliance could not keep silent concerning
this imposed status quo, let alone accepting it.

END TEXT.


3. (U) Minimize considered for REOs Basrah, Hillah, Kirkuk,
and Mosul.
Jeffrey