CONSTITUTION COMMITTEE DEPUTY CHAIRMEN TELL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 003090

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/26/2025
TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: CONSTITUTION COMMITTEE DEPUTY CHAIRMEN TELL
AMBASSADOR THE NEGOTIATING IS ONLY BEGINNING

REF: BAGHDAD 3086

Classified By: Political Counselor Robert Ford.
Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D)


1. (C) SUMMARY: Constitution Committee Deputy
Chairmen Fouad Ma'asum and Adnan al-Janabi told the
Ambassador at a July 25 luncheon that they were
committed to the August 15 deadline. Janabi confirmed
that Sunni Arab representatives will rejoin the
meetings. Both men said negotiations at the moment
are mired in distrust and stalled because of
exaggerated opening positions. They sought continued
U.S. pressure to help convene a summit of Iraqi
political leaders by early August that would produce
historic but hard compromises. Weighing in on the
critical issue of federalism, Ma'asum said the Kurds
were committed only to decentralized authority for
Kurdistan. Janabi said he believed further regional
entity formation would need strict central government
regulation and ought to be ruled out entirely in the
first years of the constitution's effectiveness. Both
men assured the Ambassador that they were committed to
improving provisions on women's rights and moderating
the role of Islam in the constitution, but they warned
that completely secular text would not be possible.
END SUMMARY.


2. (C) The Ambassador hosted Constitution Committee
Deputy Chairmen Fouad Ma'asum and Adnan al-Janabi at a
luncheon July 25. The two chairmen followed the
meeting with a session with visiting Congressman Chris
Shays (R-CT). This cable describes the key points
from both meetings, most of which were raised with the
Ambassador and repeated separately to the congressman.

--------------
THE TIMELINE AND STATUS OF TALKS
--------------


3. (C) The deputy chairmen expressed the following:

-- COMMITTED TO AUGUST 15: Ma'asum and Janabi both
said they believed they were on track to meet the
August 15 deadline. They said they were focused on
passing August 1, the last day in which they are
allowed to request an extension. After that point,
Janabi acknowledged, the National Assembly could still
attempt to amend the TAL, but such an effort would be
"damaging."

-- SUNNIS ARE BACK ON BOARD: Janabi said Sunni Arab
representatives had agreed to rejoin the talks (see
ref for more info). Now the Sunni Arab team is
working with Iraqi government officials to put their
own representatives on what will be an "independent"
investigative team led by the Iraqi judiciary. He
said National Dialogue Council leader Saleh Mutlak is
still pushing for a clearer international component to
the inquiry. Janabi praised TNA Speaker Hachim al-
Hasani's role in working with the Sunni Arabs to meet
their security needs and in helping draft a statement
announcing their return. Hasani had agreed to put
aside funds and make arrangements so that all added
Sunni Arab representatives receive the benefits of
full TNA members, Janabi said. Janabi also said
contacts with Masood Barzani were helping keep the
Sunni Arabs engaged.

-- DRAFT TEXT IS A SHIA PROPOSAL: Both of the men said
the draft constitution text now under discussion
reflected Chairman Humam al-Hamudi's proposals, not
theirs. Despite that fact, they said they had
accepted the document as a starting point for
discussion. It will be amended substantially, they
predicted. They hoped to reorganize their staff in
the coming days so that the entire "presidency
council" of the constitution committee can work as one
to issue unified draft texts. At present, they
admitted, each member of the triumvirate is relying on
his own staffers.

--------------
THE ROLE OF U.S. PRESSURE
--------------


4. (C) The deputy chairmen called for the following:

-- SEEKING AN INTERNAL SUMMIT: Every side is
exaggerating its demands at this point to strengthen
its position before the tough negotiations ahead, both
agreed. Ma'asum went so far as to admit with a laugh,
"There are exaggerated opening positions from the
Shia, Sunni Arabs -- and the Kurds." Janabi
subsequently told Congressman Shays, "We are very good
bazaar hagglers." Both men told the Ambassador that
they supported a summit in early August that brings
together top Iraqi leaders. They singled out Abd al-
Aziz al-Hakim, Masood Barzani, and all members of the
Presidency Council as key attendees. They also
suggested inviting voices the Sunni Arab community
respects like Ayad Allawi and TNA Speaker Hachim al-
Hasani. They sought U.S. pressure on all sides to
ensure this summit comes off, and Ambassador Khalilzad
agreed to keep applying it.

-- SEEKING U.S. COMMITMENT: Both men said they needed
and appreciated the U.S. commitment to Iraq security
and democratic development. Ambassador Khalilzad
reaffirmed that commitment and made clear that the
U.S. was here at Iraqi request. Ambassador Khalilzad
expressed confidence that the Iraqis would succeed and
prove to be prosperous, successful and important
players in the region. Ma'asum later told Congressman
Shays that the constitution drafting process would
have taken three to four years without U.S. pressure
like that now being applied.

--------------
TWO VIEWS ON FEDERALISM
--------------


5. (C) They expressed the following:

-- MA'ASUM LOOKING ONLY AT KURDISTAN: Ma'asum showed
no commitment to seeing federalism implemented
anywhere but Kurdistan. He said the Kurds would even
support the existence of Kurdistan as Iraq's only
regional entity if need be. He would have no problem
if the remainder of Iraq even were to act as a unified
regional entity. He did note, however, that the
principle of a federal structure for all of Iraq had
been atop the agenda since the Iraqi opposition's days
of exile and resistance.

-- JANABI LOOKING TO REGULATE FEDERALISM: Janabi,
saying he was speaking on behalf of Allawi's Iraqiyya
List, made no objection to the principle of
decentralization in Kurdistan. He even opened the
door to the formation of regional entities throughout
the rest of Iraq but said he would push for the
National Assembly to have the power to regulate that
process. He also supported a "moratorium" on the
formation of regional entities for a "set period of
time." Janabi subsequently explained his rational to
Congessman Shays as follows, "Under the present
circumstances and with Iranian pressure, (a premature
federal system) could cause us to split up. Sunni
Arab areas do not have the resources to handle that."

-- SEEKING ARTICLE 58 ON KIRKUK: Ma'asum told the
Ambassador that the Kurds would be satisfied with
maintaining the approach to Kirkuk formulated in TAL
Article 58. Ma'asum later told Congressman Shays, "If
Kirkuk wants to join Kurdistan it can join it, and if
it wants to remain independent it can stay
independent."

--------------
ISLAM AND WOMEN'S RIGHTS
--------------


6. (C) The deputy chairmen expressed the following:

-- MODERATING ISLAM'S INFLUENCE: Islamism is going to
influence the constitution, both Janabi and Ma'asum
agreed, but they were both committed to moderating its
influence. "We want a secular constitution, but we
are dealing with a wave of Islamism," Janabi said.
Janabi said he was confident that both SCIRI leader
Abd al-Aziz al-Hakim and Ayatollah Sistani were
committed to moderate Islamic language in the
document. Janabi said he specifically wanted to find
ways to draw Sunni Arab leaders into the process while
reducing the role of clerics. Ma'asum subsequently
told Congressman Shays, "I'm secular, but in Iraq it's
very hard to shelve religion and put in a system like
Turkey's. On the other hand we cannot allow this
system to become like Iran's."

-- A STEP BACKWARD ON WOMEN'S RIGHTS: The Ambassador
commented that our read of the Shia text raised
questions about the protections of women's rights.
Ma'asum said the draft document under discussion had
unquestionably taken a step backwards on women's
rights. He expected to be able to rectify part of
that problem and said no sides' object to allowing
women a prominent role in political and social life.
Both men said they were certain the constitution would
reinstate language that guarantees women one quarter
of the National Assembly seats. But they expected
that such a provision would only hold for the next two
election cycles before being dropped. Ma'asum
lamented that equal rights for women and Sharia law
are fundamentally opposed. Inheritance rules under
Sharia, for example, allot women one-third of an
estate and men two-thirds, he said. To guarantee
equal rights for women in all areas would be to annul
portions of the Sharia, and this Islamists cannot
accept, he said. The Ambassador highlighted how
important Iraqi women would be to the reconstruction
of Iraq, and he urged that they ensure strong
protections in the final text.

--------------
OTHER CONSTITIONAL ISSUES AND ANXIETIES
--------------


7. (C) The deputy chairmen expressed the following:

-- CONTROVERSY OVER IRAQ'S "PERSIANS": Ma'asum was
incredulous over the Shia call for the constitution to
recognize Iraq's "Persian" minority. Ma'asum said he
had asked his negotiating partners, "Whom are you
referring to?" They pointed to Deputy Assembly
Speaker Husayn Shahristani, who is of Iranian descent,
as an example. Ma'asum said the point was bizarre.
First, he said, Shahristani identifies as an Arab, not
a Persian. Second, not all of the peoples of the area
now known as Iran were really Persians in the sense
the constitution would be implying. Janabi expressed
unease with the entire effort to list Iraq's
minorities in the constitution. He said, "I don't
think it should go into too much detail on the
fragmentation of Iraq."

-- DISTRUST AND AMBIVALENCE ON DEMOCRACY: Ma'asum
described the short period ahead as "critical." He
added, "If we had mutual confidence we could bridge
any of these issues. Trust can come from practical
steps. But our partners fear that we will secede.
There are countries encouraging that fear. Fears rule
Iraq. A series of fears." Both men voiced
ambivalence about Iraq's democratic experiment.
Ma'asum said, "We see democracy as the sole solution
to our problems, but some see it as a lethal virus.
We have democratic ambitions but no democratic
customs." Laughing, he confessed, "We opposed the
monarchy and now we wish we had it. We opposed Abd
al-Kareem Qasem and now we wish we had him." Janabi
said, "We are going from one crisis to another. That
seems to be what democracy is about." The Ambassador
reminded them that crafting the American constitution
and system was often hard. If Iraqi leaders
demonstrate goodwill and flexibility, they can be
successful.


8. (U) REO HILLA, REO BASRA, REO MOSUL, and REO
KIRKUK, minimize considered.


Khalilzad