IRAQI KURDISTAN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY SPEAKER ADNAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 004777

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/29/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON PINR IZ
SUBJECT: IRAQI KURDISTAN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY SPEAKER ADNAN
MUFTI CONDEMNS ISG REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS

Classified By: RRT Leader James Yellin, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

This is a Regional Reconstruction Team cable


1. (C) SUMMARY: In a meeting with Regional Coordinator and
RRT Poloff, the Speaker of the Iraqi Kurdistan National
Assembly Adnan Mufti criticized the recommendations of the
Iraq Study Group, alleged that the State Department does not
take into account Kurdish needs, and said the Kurds have to
right to independence although it is not presently possible.
The Regional Coordinator expressed continued U.S. support for
a united Iraq and for harmony between the regional and
national constitutions and hydrocarbon laws. END SUMMARY.

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THE IRAQ STUDY GROUP AND THE STATE DEPARTMENT
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2. (SBU) Regional Coordinator and RRT Poloff met with Adnan
Mufti (PUK),Speaker of the Iraqi Kurdistan National Assembly
(KNA) in his office in Erbil on December 19. Mufti began by
saying that the expression the &Kurds have no friends but
the mountains8 should now include &and the Americans.8


3. (C) That said, Mufti launched into a monologue on what he
called the misguided recommendations of the Iraq Study Group
(ISG). Mufti said that the members of the ISG were
delinquent in not visiting the Kurdistan Region, and that the
ISG recommendations came &from Turkey and Syria8 and would
complicate Kurdish relations with neighboring countries.
Additionally, he said the recommendation that the referendum
on Kirkuk be delayed is unconstitutional. Regional
Coordinator replied that the ISG report is unofficial and
only one source of recommendations for President Bush. Mufti
agreed, and noted that Kurdistan Region President Massoud
Barzani had expressed his concerns about the report to
President Bush on the phone. However, Mufti said, the
Kurdish people are afraid implementation of the
recommendations would lead to a return to the &old Iraq8 of
Saddam Hussein.


4. (C) Mufti also asserted that the policy of the U.S.
Department of State is controlled by Turkey and the Arab
states and does not respond to Kurdish needs. Regional
Coordinator replied that he is from the State Department and
that this assertion is untrue.

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CONSTITUTIONS AND HYRDOCARBON LAWS
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5. (C) Responding to a question by the Regional Coordinator
on the status of the draft constitution for the Iraqi
Kurdistan Region, Mufti said that the constitutional
committee of the KNA has prolonged the public comment period
until April 1, 2007. Two to three months after this period
the KNA will begin to consider the draft constitution, but,
he said, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has not yet
decided whether to submit the draft constitution to a popular
referendum or to a vote by the KNA. Regional Coordinator
said the Kurdistan Region constitution should be consistent
with the national constitution of Iraq. Mufti agreed.


6. (C) Regional Coordinator added that the planned Kurdistan
hydrocarbon law should be in harmony with the planned
national law. Mufti replied that the KRG and federal
government have agreed on a formula for sharing revenue but
the subject of contracting and exploitation of new fields is
still under debate.

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NATIONAL RECONCILIATION AND UNITY
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7. (C) Mufti praised Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki,s
December 15 proposals to allow more former Baath party
members to have government jobs and to allow more former
officers and soldiers to rejoin the army. Mufti warned,
however, that members of Saddam,s secret police and senior
military officers must be kept out of public positions.


8. (C) Mufti stated the Kurds have the right to independence
although it is not presently possible. He added that the
Kurds will take a chance on the &new Iraq,8 but if it fails
to materialize, the Kurds will leave Iraq. Regional
Coordinator stressed the need for Iraqi unity and for Kurdish
aspirations to be achieved through dialogue with Baghdad and
national reconciliation.

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BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES AND COMMENT

BAGHDAD 00004777 002 OF 002


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9. (SBU) Mufti is a member of the Politburo of the PUK.
Mufti was KRG Deputy Prime Minister before being appointed
Speaker of the KNA in 2005. Mufti, from an old and
influential family in Erbil, has barely survived two attempts
on his life ) thallium poisoning by Saddam Hussein,s regime
in 1987, and the PUK Erbil party headquarters bombing in
February 2004.

10. (C) The KNA remains largely a rubber-stamp for
legislation proposed by the KRG executive branch headed by
KRG President Barzani. Mufti kept the previous KNA out of
many political decisions during his tenure as Deputy Prime
Minister, but he now wants to increase the authority of the
legislature. The role of the KNA in forming, debating, and
approving the regional constitution will help determine its
clout within the KRG.

11. (C) Both PUK and KDP have expressed vehement opposition
to aspects of the ISG report that they feel dismiss Kurdish
suffering and national aspirations. The vehemence of their
reaction is not fully explained by the substance of the ISG
recommendations, but also reflects the Kurds, troubled
history, including chemical attacks by Saddam, and the belief
that this history is being ignored.

12. (C) In addition, there is widespread sympathy for Kurdish
independence not only within both the KDP and PUK but also
within the public at large, although party leaders recognize
that this is not practical at the present time. The public
sympathy for independence creates pressure on KRG leaders to
show tangible deliverables from continued participation in a
united Iraq.
SCOBEY