Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06KIRKUK34
2006-02-12 18:49:00
CONFIDENTIAL
REO Kirkuk
Cable title:  

(U) PUK DEMONSTRATION AT REO KIRKUK

Tags:  PREL PGOV ASEC IZ 
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VZCZCXRO3912
OO RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHMOS
DE RUEHKUK #0034/01 0431849
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O R 121849Z FEB 06
FM REO KIRKUK
TO RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD IMMEDIATE 0478
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0515
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RUEHKUK/REO KIRKUK 0542
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KIRKUK 000034 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR DS/IP/NEA, BAGHDAD FOR POL, POLMIL, RSO, NCT

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2/12/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV ASEC IZ
SUBJECT: (U) PUK DEMONSTRATION AT REO KIRKUK


KIRKUK 00000034 001.2 OF 002


CLASSIFIED BY: DEAN, Acting Regional Coordinator, REO Kirkuk, US
Department of State.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)



C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KIRKUK 000034

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR DS/IP/NEA, BAGHDAD FOR POL, POLMIL, RSO, NCT

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2/12/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV ASEC IZ
SUBJECT: (U) PUK DEMONSTRATION AT REO KIRKUK


KIRKUK 00000034 001.2 OF 002


CLASSIFIED BY: DEAN, Acting Regional Coordinator, REO Kirkuk, US
Department of State.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)




1. (SBU) INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY: On February 12, PRT Kirkuk
Deputy Team Leader, IPAO and RSO met with Provincial Council
Chairman and Kirkuk PUK leader Rizgar Ali at the REO. The
subject was the February 7 shooting incident in which a REO PSD
shot and killed a taxi driver and one of his passengers and
wounded another passenger in the Kurdish neighborhood of
Rahimawa, Kirkuk. Later, a peaceful demonstration of about 100
people that Ali may have organized arrived and PRT staff held a
joint meeting with a delegation of six of them, including two of
the victims' relatives, and Rizgar Ali. The demonstrators
wanted an apology, compensation and an investigation into the
incident. END INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY.


(SBU) RIZGAR ALI PLAYING IT UP FOR ALL ITS WORTH
-------------- ---


2. (SBU) Rizgar Ali's visit to the REO compound underlined the
gravity of the situation, as it was only his second time here in
as many months. (He has been reluctant to come to the REO.)
Concerning the incident, Ali said:

-- It is imperative that the relationship between the U.S. and
the Kurds be maintained. However, this is the third deadly
shooting incident involving Coalition forces or personnel in
Kirkuk in the recent past.

-- This last incident in Rahimawa is very difficult for the
Kurds of Kirkuk to accept. Some 2,000 households there lost
family members in the struggle against Saddam.

-- Most people in Rahimawa are Patriotic Union of Kurdistan
(PUK) members and the PUK has worked to keep the situation calm.
Feelings are still running high in Rahimawa and the families
are still in the mourning period.

-- The Provincial Council Security Committee will start an
investigation into this incident.

-- It is not necessary to compensate them just yet. That can
wait until later. It would be better to wait a few days and
then have a meeting with the families, some Provincial Council
members and some clerics at which an apology can be given.

-- There are several hundred protestors coming here by bus and
will be here shortly. But we have party members on the buses to
keep them calm. Most of them are my relatives or people I know.


(U) DEMONSTRATORS WANT APOLOGY, COMPENSATION
--------------


3. (SBU) At circa 1100 hours a crowd of about 100-odd men
bearing banners came to within 100 meters of the outer entrance
to the REO. The crowd chanted, "What do you want, Kurdish
people? We need our martyrs' blood." They were peaceful and
stayed behind the crowd barrier. A six-person delegation that
included two relatives of the victims was allowed into the REO
to meet with PRT Deputy Team Leader, IPAO, RSO and Rizgar Ali.


4. (SBU) Rizgar Ali opened the meeting by underlining the
importance of the U.S.-Kurdish relationship and U.S. sacrifices
in freeing Iraq from Saddam. The PRT Deputy Team Leader
extended his condolences to the families of the victims. In
reply, the members of the delegation said:

-- We want an apology for what happened and recommend an open
investigation of it and compensation, as the victims left needy
family members.

-- The U.S. should recognize that Rahimawa is a safe
neighborhood and change its security procedures accordingly so
as not to repeat this mistake.

-- We ask for fair compensation.


5. (C) PRT Deputy Team Leader and RSO later met with the
victims' relatives and the head of the police for the precinct.
The police captain, an Arab, said the Kurds had politicized the
issue and were fanning the flames. By contrast, the families
seemed amenable to a settlement, though not yet satisfied.


(U) COMMENT

KIRKUK 00000034 002.2 OF 002


--------------


6. (C) There was a certain amount of theater in today's events.
The actual victims were members of the Kurdistan Democratic
Party (KDP),but lived in a PUK neighborhood. Each party has
been trying to elbow past the other to show it is the better
defender of the people's interests. The KDP has focused more on
getting the families maximum compensation. By contrast, Rizgar
Ali may have organized the demonstration and his trip to the REO
to demonstrate he can influence the Americans. To show the KDP
as ineffectual, he is trying to draw out the resolution of this
incident, but without letting anti-American sentiment get out of
control. PRT Kirkuk, is working to talk directly to the
victims' families and to pay compensation as soon as possible.
DEAN