Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06KIRKUK124
2006-07-15 14:28:00
CONFIDENTIAL
REO Kirkuk
Cable title:  

(U) KURDISTAN REFERENDUM MOVEMENT LEADERS DISCUSS

Tags:  PGOV PHUM PINR PNAT PREF PREL PBTS KDEM IZ 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO9777
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL
DE RUEHKUK #0124/01 1961428
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P R 151428Z JUL 06
FM REO KIRKUK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0678
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD PRIORITY 0640
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RUEHKUK/REO KIRKUK 0706
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KIRKUK 000124 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 7/15/2016
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR PNAT PREF PREL PBTS KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: (U) KURDISTAN REFERENDUM MOVEMENT LEADERS DISCUSS
ORGANIZATION GOALS, INDEPENDENCE


KIRKUK 00000124 001.2 OF 003


CLASSIFIED BY: Tim Uselmann, Political Officer, IPAO, Department
of State.
REASON: 1.4 (a),(d)



C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KIRKUK 000124

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 7/15/2016
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR PNAT PREF PREL PBTS KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: (U) KURDISTAN REFERENDUM MOVEMENT LEADERS DISCUSS
ORGANIZATION GOALS, INDEPENDENCE


KIRKUK 00000124 001.2 OF 003


CLASSIFIED BY: Tim Uselmann, Political Officer, IPAO, Department
of State.
REASON: 1.4 (a),(d)




1. (C) INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY: IPAO on July 3 met with
leaders of
the Kurdistan Referendum Movement (KRM) to discuss the structure
of the
organization, its current political goals, and future plans for a
referendum on Kurdistan independence. (Note: the KRM was
responsible
for an unofficial poll during the January 2005 national and
provincial
elections, in which allegedly 98 percent of Iraqi Kurds voted for
independence. A group of Kurdish intellectuals organized the KRM
in July
2003 to push for the right of Iraqi Kurds to hold a referendum to
determine their future political status. The proposed
referendum would
present Iraqi Kurds with only two choices, to remain part of
Iraq or to
secede to form an independent Kurdistan nation. End note.)
Attending
the meeting were four heads of the KRM "high committee" in
Sulaymaniyah,
Fattah Khalil, Tahir Hassan, Shukriyah Hussein, and Mohabad
Mohamed-Amin.. END INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY.




(C) HISTORY AND STRUCTURE OF THE REFERENDUM MOVEMENT
-------------- --------------


2. (C) IPAO on 3 July 2006 met with KRM leaders to discuss their
organization's history and structure, political leanings, and
future
goals. The movement developed following Operation Iraqi Freedom
from
Kurdish concerns about Coalition plans for the Middle East as a
whole
and for the Kurds in particular. A group of Iraqi Kurdish
intellectuals
met in Sulaymaniyah in July 2003 to establish a plan for Iraqi
Kurds to
determine their own destiny, a movement which soon spread to
several
cities in Kurdistan as well as to Kirkuk, Mosul and other areas.
The

KRM held its first conference in Arbil in December 2003, after
which the
KRM collected over 2 million signatures to present to the Iraqi
Transitional Government, the United Nations and the Coalition
Forces to
demand that Iraqi Kurds be given the right to hold a referendum
to
decide their future political status in Iraq. With the second
conference, held in March 2005, the KRM became an official
Non-Government Organization. A third conference is being
organized to
meet in Arbil in late July or early August 2006, during which
members
will meet to chart the future course of the organization.
Currently,
the KRM is organized around 8-member "high committees" located in
Kirkuk, Mosul, Dohuk, Sulaymaniyah, Arbil, and Khanaqin.
Beneath the
high committees are local "coordination committees" for each of
which at
least one member must also be a member of the high committee.
The
coordination committee is responsible for mobilizing the Kurdish
people
for demonstrations or any referendum action. The KRM leaders
claim to
have coordination committees in nearly every village and town of
the
Kurdish areas in Iraq.

(C) INDEPENDENT -- BUT TO WHAT DEGREE?
-------------- --------------


3. (C) The representatives asserted the KRM has no plans to
become a
legitimate political party to run against the Kurdistan
Democratic Party
(KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and has no formal
connection with the two main Kurdish parties. The members also
claim

KIRKUK 00000124 002.2 OF 003


that the KRM maintains its independence and that the
organization is not
associated with any specific party, although KRM members come
from many
political parties to include the KDP and PUK. This independence
permits
the KRM to move across political sectors and garner wide public
support.
The leaders noted, however, that the KRM has relied on the
Kurdistan
Regional Government (KRG),and by extension the KDP and PUK, for
much of
its security, transportation, and funding since the elections in
January. (Note: according to anecdotal reports, the KRM was
created
with the consent of the two main Kurdish parties, allegedly to
assist
Kurdish leaders during negotiations with Baghdad by permitting
them to
point to Kurdish popular sentiment in favor of secession and
independence. End note.) The members also cited several
parties whose
goals are closely aligned with those of the KRM, such as the
Kurdistan
Toilers Party, the Kurdistan Social Democratic Party, and the
Kurdistan
Islamic Union.


(C) PLATFORM OF ANTI-CORRUPTION, FREE PRESS
--------------


4. (C) The KRM leaders staunchly support recent KDP and PUK
efforts at
political reform and ending corruption in the Kurdish region.
As a
popular movement, the KRM members claim they are able to
mobilize a
groundswell of public sentiment to achieve genuine party reforms.
According to the representatives, the KRM recently supported the
PUK
establishing an Office of Questions, which is responsible for
investigating any reports of corruption or abuse on the part of
PUK
officials. The KRM is also behind efforts to campaign against
suppression of free press and maintains close ties with the
regional
media.


(C) SIGNATURES, ARTICLE 140, AND REMOVING THE "NEW ARABS"
-------------- -


5. (C) The KRM members said their organization would address
several
issues immediately. Currently, the KRM is collecting signatures
internationally to recognize Kurdistan's right to hold a
referendum on
independence. The KRM will now begin collecting signatures in
Kurdistan
to legitimize this right to the new Iraqi government. Like other
Kurdish groups, the KRM leaders are turning their attention to
implementation of Article 140, believing that Kirkuk and other
disputed
areas, from Khanaqin to Mosul, are part of the Kurdistan region.
The
KRM leaders stated that so-called "new Arabs" or "settlers" have
committed human rights violations and must return to their
places of
origin as part of implementing Article 140. None of the KRM
members
present indicated any faith in the new prime minister, stating
that like
Jafari, Maliki is a Shia so he will naturally oppose Article 140
and
make unilateral decisions from Baghdad that are designed to
distract
from normalization of Kirkuk. The KRM representatives also
noted that
the federal constitution does not protect the rights of Kurds.
The new
KRG constitution is supposed to protect Kurdish rights but does
not
enshrine Kurdistan's right to self-determination, which the KRM
claims
is one reason the draft has not yet been ratified. The members
alleged
the KRM mobilized popular support to amend the KRG constitution
to
include language on self-determination.


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(U) COMMENT
--------------


6. (C) If effective in mobilizing public support for a
referendum on
independence, the KRM's coordination committees, connections with
regional media, and platform of anti-corruption and party reform
could
constitute a potential recipe to radically alter the current,
more
moderate, tenor of Kurdish politics with little warning.
Although the
KRM apparently lacks the necessary resources to launch a
large-scale
campaign to challenge the two main parties, the KRM publicly
backing one
of the alternative Kurdish parties, such as the KIU, could
transform
Kurdish politics and bring the independence issue to the fore
during the
referendum on Kirkuk and upcoming provincial elections.
JBIGUS