Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06KIRKUK40
2006-02-22 09:50:00
CONFIDENTIAL
REO Kirkuk
Cable title:  

(U) BA'QUBAH CARTOON DEMONSTRATION LARGEST IN OVER A YEAR

Tags:  PGOV KISL PHUM KDEM PINS IZ 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO4719
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHMOS
DE RUEHKUK #0040 0530950
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P R 220950Z FEB 06
FM REO KIRKUK
TO RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD PRIORITY 0491
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0528
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RUEHKUK/REO KIRKUK 0555
C O N F I D E N T I A L KIRKUK 000040 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

BAGHDAD FOR POLMIL, POL, PAO AND NCT

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2/22/2016
TAGS: PGOV KISL PHUM KDEM PINS IZ
SUBJECT: (U) BA'QUBAH CARTOON DEMONSTRATION LARGEST IN OVER A YEAR

CLASSIFIED BY: Scott Dean, Regional Coordinator (Acting),Reo
Kirkuk, Department of State .
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)



C O N F I D E N T I A L KIRKUK 000040

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

BAGHDAD FOR POLMIL, POL, PAO AND NCT

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2/22/2016
TAGS: PGOV KISL PHUM KDEM PINS IZ
SUBJECT: (U) BA'QUBAH CARTOON DEMONSTRATION LARGEST IN OVER A YEAR

CLASSIFIED BY: Scott Dean, Regional Coordinator (Acting),Reo
Kirkuk, Department of State .
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)




1. (U) This is a SET Ba'qubah cable.


2. (SBU) SUMMARY. A February 19 demonstration in Ba'qubah
protesting Danish cartoons and the alleged 2004 British beating
of students in al-Amarah amassed one of the largest crowds
Ba'qubah has seen in a demonstration to date. The numbers may
imply a considerable degree of popular interest in the cartoons;
a more proximate reason for the large crowd may be the
participation, for the first time, of secondary school students
(who formed a substantial majority of the overall number of
protesters) in the protest. END SUMMARY.


3. (U) On the morning of February 19, a large crowd of
demonstrators gathered in downtown Ba'qubah carrying banners
with religious slogans written on them and chanting against the
Danish cartoons and the alleged abuse by British forces against
students (recently released on video). All of our involved
contacts, both within and outside of the demonstration, have
assured us that there were no anti-American slogans on the
banners or in the chants. Counts of the crowd ranged from 500
to 2000, but the estimates of most of our contacts put the
number of demonstrators at approximately 1200. U.S. Army
estimates put the crowd at well under 1000. The protest was
generally peaceful, though the crowd threw rocks on two
occasions - at SET convoy (on its way to a meeting that was
aborted, as the crowd was blocking the road) and later at a
convoy of CF military police.


4. (C) Two student organizations were behind the February 19
demonstration: the IIP-dominated Diyala University Student Union
(Diyala IIP Chairman Hamdi al-Zubaydi denies any IIP
foreknowledge of or involvement in the demonstration) and the
Student and Youth Guild, a Diyala-wide organization
incorporating students of intermediate schools, secondary
schools, and vocational institutes whose members range in age
from 15 to 45. Unsurprisingly, the demonstrators (as at almost
all demonstrations in Ba'qubah) were drawn primarily from the
membership of these two groups. Diyala University Student Union
President Ra'ad Majid claims to have been taken by surprise
(NOTE: though he clearly seemed gratified) by the size of the
demonstration and the level of media coverage that it had
received. Diyala Governor Ra'ad al-Mullah Jawad al-Timimi, who
had granted the protest organizers a permit, had calculated in a
February 15 meeting with SET that 100-150 protesters would show
up. Diyala IIP Chairman Hamdi Hassun al-Zubaydi denies any
advance knowledge of the demonstration - much IIP less support.


5. (C) COMMENT: The size of the February 19 demonstration
appears to have surprised all involved - for good reason.
Previous demonstrations protesting emotionally charged events,
such as the November 12 arrest of 300 Sunni leaders by the MOI
and the MARAM protests against the December election results,
produced crowds of a few hundred at most. The cartoon protest
likely drew larger-than-average numbers of the usual suspects
(university students, young adults, etc.). However, the
addition of intermediate and secondary school students - the
majority of the crowd - is what raised the size of the crowd to
such an impressive (for Ba'qubah) level. (This may also explain
the relatively undisciplined nature of their behavior towards CF
vehicles.) We expect to see more participation by the Student
and Youth Guild in future demonstrations, and perhaps increased
competition among the political parties in Diyala over the
Guild's leadership. END COMMENT.

ORESTE