KURDISTAN REGIONAL GOVERNMENT'S MOST WANTED:

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 001618

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/16/2016
TAGS: PGOV IR IZ
SUBJECT: KURDISTAN REGIONAL GOVERNMENT'S MOST WANTED:
MINISTER OF STATE FOR EXTERNAL AFFAIRS DISCUSSES AGENDA

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


1. (C) SUMMARY: While waiting for a visa to the
U.S. on May 11, newly-appointed Kurdistan Regional
Government (KRG) Minister of State for External
Relations Mohammad Ihsan outlined his policy agenda
for his term. As the current personal advisor to
Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani and the former KRG-
Erbil Minister for Human Rights, Ihsan will need all
his previous government experience in what many view
as the most controversial ministry in the KRG.
While Ihsan promised to work closely with the Iraqi
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he laid out an agenda
for his term that plotted a crash course with
Baghdad: restoration of "lost Kurdish property"
(Kirkuk),developing bilateral relationships with
border states like Turkey and Iran, and Kurdish
representation in Iraqi Embassies abroad. Although
Ihsan said all the right things (including, at the
end of the conversation, "Kurds realize that their
only hope is through the success of a unified
Iraq.") much of Ihsan's smooth delivery failed to
mask the fact that the Kurds have begun taking what
many here --Kurds and Arabs -- perceive to be small
steps toward independence. We must encourage the
KRG to coordinate the KRG ministry's actions with
the Iraqi MFA, and route all bilateral issues
through Baghdad. END SUMMARY

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Introducing a Controversial Minister
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2. (C) In between waiting for a visa to the U.S. on
May 11, newly-appointed Kurdistan Regional
Government (KRG) Minister of State for External
Relations Mohammad Ihsan outlined his policy agenda
for his term. Ihsan, who speaks perfect British
English, has lived in Kirkuk and Zakho City. In
addition to his duties as a KRG minister, Ihsan
said, he is expected to continue in his full-time
position as Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani's
international affairs adviser, legal adviser, and
protocol officer. According to Ihsan, he oversees
the legal affairs for all the Barzanis in London.
He was also the former Minister of Human Rights for
the KRG-Erbil. His experience in government service
will no doubt come in handy as he takes on what many
in Iraq are grumbling constitutes a "Foreign
Ministry of Kurdistan."

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"We Plan to Work with the Iraqi MFA"
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3. (C) Ihsan protested that the Ministry of State
for External Affairs was not intended to challenge
the central government Foreign Minister, currently
led by fellow Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP)
member Hoshyar Zebari. Instead, this Kurdish
Ministry of State is to concentrate on internal
issues. In order of importance, said Ihsan, the new
Ministry would address issues of lost Kurdish
territory, border issues with Turkey and Iran, and
cultural/social issues of Kurds abroad. He intended
to work closely with the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign
Affairs to make sure that his ministry would not be
contradicting Iraqi foreign policy. However, Ihsan
added, Zebari is more of a hindrance, despite being
Kurdish. According to Ihsan, Zebari has not
insisted on Kurdish rights to representation in
Iraqi Embassies abroad, and - on a more personal
note - his ego makes it difficult for regional
ministers to work with him.


4. (C) There is a big gap, Ihsan continued, between
Iraqi embassies and party offices abroad. The
Constitution allows for separate regional
representation in Iraqi Embassies, Ihsan argued, but
there was no evidence of this being put into
practice. Iraq's neighbors are eagerly watching for
fissures to exploit between the Iraqi Arabs and
Kurds, but the Kurds in Iraq feel they have more in
common with Arabs in Iraq than with Kurds in other
countries.

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Lost Kurdish Territory?

BAGHDAD 00001618 002 OF 003


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5. (C) Ihsan repeated Prime Minister Barzani's
reference, made in the cabinet inauguration speech
in Erbil on May 7, to the "lost Kurdish territories
of Kirkuk, Khanaqin, Mandly, Sinjar, Zerbatya, and
Shekhan. The Iraqi Government, he charged, should
change the current provincial boundaries to reflect
pre-Saddam meddling. This would benefit all of
Iraq, not just the Kurds. Speaking of the Kurds,
however, he mentioned that the issue of overcrowding
in Ninewa, Diyala, Salah ad-Din, and Baghdad would
be resolved if the Kurds were allowed to return to
Kirkuk.


6. (C) Above all, Ihsan said flatly, restoring
Kirkuk as part of Kurdistan is his primary goal.
"The people of Kirkuk," he declaimed, "should have
their rights restored on the grounds of humanity. I
was a resident of Kirkuk and I was thrown out; how
you will compensate me for the inability to return
to my city for thirty years?" POLOFF reiterated
that the U.S. supported Constitution Article 140/TAL
Article 58, but that neither article allowed for the
forced removal of Arabization Arabs from Kirkuk.
While Ihsan grudgingly concurred, he added that the
Iraqi Property Claims Commission (IPCC) is notably
corrupt and its staff willing to draw out this
process indefinitely to maintain their jobs. He
could not face the Kurdish people without resolving
this issue - during the tenure of Ayad Allawi as
Prime Minister, he and Communist Party Leader Hamid
Majid Mousa served together on a committee to
determine the proper dispensation of Kirkuk. This
committee met only once, but even in that brief time
he determined that the process was corrupt and bound
to fail. Perhaps the answer is to reconstitute this
committee and rethink the mechanisms for IPCC and
the future of Kirkuk, he mused. (Comment: this
committee is quite moribund even though Prime
Minister Jafari briefly pondered how to activate it.
End Comment.)

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Iran, Turkey Border Issues
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7. (C) As for regional neighbors like Turkey and
Iran, Ihsan immediately concurred that bilateral
relationships should be kept at the Baghdad level.
However, the Kurds also needed to maintain their own
ties to these countries - for example, the Kurds
would need to maintain good business relations in
order to export oil through Turkish territory. In
the case of Turkey, Ihsan accused Turkish
authorities of hypocrisy and being controlled by the
hysterical outburst of Turkmen within Iraq. "I
challenge you to find any public statement by a
Kurdish leader commenting on internal problems
within Turkey," Ihsan declared. "In contrast,
Ankara is forever poking its nose into Iraqi affairs
- why do they insist on commenting on Kirkuk?"
Leaning closer, Ihsan dismissed Ankara, stating he
could win an argument with them at any time by
mentioning Konya. (Comment: According to Ihsan, as
of 1985 Konya was widely acknowledged as a primarily
Kurdish city; since then, the Turks have allegedly
deported all the Kurds and "Turkified" the city.
End Comment.)


8. (C) Ihsan said that Iran is trying to focus
attention on the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and
Kurdish issues to distract their domestic audience
from the Iranian government's growing international
problems. The so-called "attack" on PKK offices in
Haj Omran was clearly a diversionary tactic, since
the PKK had been warned well in advance, Ihsan
claimed. Iran has supported the PKK with money,
materials, political support, and hospitals,
according to Ihsan. (Comment: During a meeting
with PolCouns on May 10, senior Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan (PUK) member Fuad Masum also alleged that
over 90 percent of the PKK's support came from Iran.
End Comment.)

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Comment
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BAGHDAD 00001618 003 OF 003



9. (C) Ihsan's casual comment in the beginning of
the conversation that he is expected to be both the
Prime Minister's personal assistant as well as the
Minister of State for External Affairs raises more
questions about the democratic structure of the KRG,
and the tribal stranglehold the Barzanis have over
their political sphere. Critics of the KRG may have
some room for hope, however: if the Barzanis believe
the Minister of State for External Relations job can
be held as a "secondary career," it might indicate
that they do not plan on tackling many issues
through this venue. Its very existence, however, is
a marker, with its brash declaration of independent
authority from the center.


10. (C) Although Ihsan said all the right things
(including at the end of the conversation, "Kurds
realize that their only hope is through the success
of a unified Iraq.") much of Ihsan's smooth delivery
is not stopping many in Baghdad -- Kurds and Arabs -
- from perceiving that the Kurds have begun taking
small steps toward independence. From Prime
Minister's Barzani's speech, where he called for
self-reliance from Baghdad, to the very creation of
what is clearly a Kurdish Foreign Minister, many
here perceive indications that as the KRG gains in
strength the Kurds will retreat more and more from
the daily political struggles of Arab Iraq. Rumors
that the Iraqi Foreign Ministry portfolio may be
split up, with a separate Iraqi Minister of State
for Foreign Affairs, responsible for Arab countries,
will only encourage the Kurds to pursue their own
foreign policy. We must have to encourage the KRG
to coordinate this KRG ministry's actions with the
Iraqi MFA, and route all bilateral issues through
Baghdad.


KHALILZAD