ZEBARI SHAYKH SAYS TRIBES CONTROL SOCIAL AFFAIRS IN NORTHERN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KIRKUK 000083 SIPDIS SIPDIS BAGHDAD FOR POL, POLMIL, NCT, ROL COORDINATOR, USAID E.O. 12958: DECL: 4/10/2016 TAGS: PGOV KCOR PHUM PINS PREL PINR KDEM KWMN IZ IR SY, TU SUBJECT: ZEBARI SHAYKH SAYS TRIBES CONTROL SOCIAL AFFAIRS IN NORTHERN IRAQ REF: KIRKUK 75 KIRKUK 00000083 001.2 OF 003 CLASSIFIED BY: Scott Dean, Acting Regional Coordinator, REO Kirkuk, DoS. REASON: 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. The head of the Zebari tribe said he supported the Coalition presence in Iraq, but requested that the U.S. pay more attention to the tribes. He explained that while the Sunni Arabs of Iraq are demanding a U.S. withdrawal, the Kurds fear it. Zebari said Kurds blamed the U.S. for Iraq's continuing problems but the Kurds' deep gratitude to the U.S. for freeing them from a brutal regime overrode any negative accusations toward the United States. The Zebari tribe's main concern is earning a traditional living in northern Iraq. He said that, although the political parties were more important than the tribes in northern Iraq, the tribes could affect social change. The Zebaris and Barzanis conducted a bloody feud during the latter half of the 20th century. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) This is the last cable reporting a series of interviews with leaders of four influential Kurdish tribes in Iraq, including the Harki, Baradusti, Surchi, and Zebari. IPAO's on March 12 met with Ridha Zubayr Mahmud Zebari to discuss tribal views in northern Iraq. Requests U.S. to Stay in Iraq, Work With the Tribes -------------- -------------- ¶3. (C) Shaykh Zebari said he supported the Coalition presence in Iraq, but requested that the U.S. pay more attention to the tribes. He compared the Iraqi Kurds to birds in a cage - the cage being the Kurdistan region of Iraq - and said, if the U.S. were to leave Iraq, then predator states like Iran, Syria, and Turkey would rattle the cage. He said all Kurds worried the U.S. would pull out of Iraq someday. Zebari explained that, while the Sunni Arabs of Iraq were demanding a U.S. withdrawal, the Kurds feared it. He added that the Kurds also were concerned the Coalition might betray them as the western powers had in the past, he cited the 1975 Algiers Accord as an example. U.S. Can Solve Everything -------------- ¶4. (C) Zebari said the Kurds saw three main problems where they faulted the United States. First, the Kurds believed the United States had sufficient military and technological power to control terrorism in Iraq, yet it allowed the Iraqi security situation to remain chaotic to advance U.S. economic interests. Second, when the Iraqi Army and police turned over killers and criminals to the Coalition, the Kurdish people believed the Coalition often freed them. And third, many Kurds believed that the U.S. easily could solve the fuel crisis if it consulted with the Turkish government to remove border checkpoints and other obstacles. Zebari added, however, that the Kurds' deep gratitude to the U.S. for freeing them from a brutal regime overrode any of those accusations. Daunted With Maintaining a Rural Livelihood -------------- ¶5. (SBU) When asked his tribe's main concern, Zebari said it was earning a traditional living in northern Iraq. The top industries of the Zebari tribe are agriculture and animal husbandry. He said a farmer's income was too low, and the meager wages were affecting the Kurdistan Region. Zebari said fertilizer was too expensive, tractor rentals were too pricey, and finished agricultural products were undervalued. ¶6. (SBU) Moreover, trading and selling animal meat was expensive and difficult to sustain. Zebari said animal upkeep was challenging because the costs of hay, barley and other maintenance requirements were increasing. He added that the fuel crisis in northern Iraq was exacerbating northern Iraq's already poor economy. For example, cooking gas had risen from 1,000 to 20,000 dinars per liter since Operation Iraqi Freedom. Parties More Important -------------- ¶7. (C) Zebari candidly told us that the political parties in northern Iraq were more important than the tribes. "The parties own the government and distribute the jobs." He added that an Iraqi Kurd could not obtain a job without paying respect to the political parties. Zebari claimed he received no financial support from the political parties. KIRKUK 00000083 002.2 OF 003 ¶8. (C) When asked his views on the KRG merger, Zebari said that the unification thus far was merely an agreement and that no changes had occurred yet on the ground. He argued that if the Coalition were not present, the KDP and PUK would continue to fight. Zebari said he remained optimistic on the merger, but saw no way the two administrations could unite their security, intelligence, and finance ministries. But Tribes Affect Social Issues -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Zebari argued that the tribes were important because they regulated the social affairs of the Kurdish people. He counseled that the U.S. had to work with the tribes to understand the Kurds' social problems. For example, the tribes were responsible for solving family disputes, which if left undone could result in violence and crime. Tribal leaders were in charge of determining financial compensation in both honorable and dishonorable marriages, as well as handling land disputes between animal herders. Zebari Views: Honor Killings, Mosul, and Services -------------- -------------- ¶10. (C) -- Shaykh Zebari claimed that few honor killings were taking place in northern Iraq. He said that tribes in the past forced women into marriage; but now he consulted with his daughters and their prospects, and they decided together. -- Zebari said the Kurds never claimed that Mosul should be part of the KRG, like Kirkuk, but argued that Kurdish control of the east bank of the Tigris was fair. -- Zebari complained that several villages in Dahuk did not have paved roads and never were rebuilt since Saddam Hussayn's 1988 Anfal campaign in northern Iraq. Some villages have neither schools nor clinics. Zebari Tribal History -------------- ¶11. (SBU) The Zebari tribe is one of the largest tribes in the Badinian area, which consists of parts of Dahuk and Ninawa provinces. Shaykh Zebari leads the entire tribe. Approximately 100,000 Zebaris live in more than 400 villages in northern Iraq. While there are no formal branches outside Iraq, Zebari families live in Iran and Syria. The Zebaris have maintained close relations with the Doski, Harki, Surchi, Sini, and Rakhan tribes in northern Iraq. They also share close relations with Kurdish tribes outside Iraq, including the Shikak tribe - the largest Kurdish tribe in Iran - and Binyanshin tribe in Turkey. The Zebari tribe consists mostly of Muslims, with some Christians. Zebari said that Kurdish tribes were not religiously based; meaning if a Muslim killed a Christian of another tribe, the Muslim would be killed as compensation. ¶12. (SBU) Zebari's grandfather in 1958 was a member of the Iraqi parliament. Iraqi King Faisal presented Zebari's grandfather with the Rafidin First Medal for outstanding government service. The Zebaris for the most part cooperated with the Iraqi Government until 1981, when Zebari's father opposed Saddam Hussayn's moves to kill Iraqi Kurds, spurring him to work against the regime. Zebari claimed the Ba'thist regime killed his father by lethal injection. ¶13. (SBU) From 1981 until 1988, the Zebari tribe moved to the mountains, joined Peshmerga forces, and fought against the defunct regime. Saddam eventually forcibly migrated the Zebaris to Bahraka - a town near Arbil. The tribe migrated to the Shino province of Iran during 1988-90. Iranian intelligence officials at that time approached Zebari, offering him money to work against the KDP and PUK; he rejected it. The Zebaris returned to northern Iraq after the Iraqi Kurds gained autonomy in 1991. Zebari-Barzani Feud -------------- ¶14. (C) The Barzanis are a clan within the Zebari tribe, yet the Barzanis remain independent from the Zebaris. The Zebaris and Barzanis conducted a bloody feud during the latter half of the 20th century, with fighting becoming especially intense from 1960 to 1970. When Coalition Forces entered Iraq, several Zebari families in Arbil fled to Mosul, joining other Zebaris, in fear of reprisals from the Barzanis. Iraqi KDP founder Mullah Mustafa killed Zebari tribal Shaykh Mahmud Zebari (Shaykh Zebari's uncle). As a result, Mahmud's son - Arshad Zebari - and a portion of the tribe fled to Mosul as a safehaven, KIRKUK 00000083 003.2 OF 003 coalescing with the Iraqi regime. Saddam in 1991 appointed Arshad Zebari as Iraqi Minister of State in an effort to create internal problems for the Zebari tribe. Shaykh Zebari said the Coalition following Operation Iraqi Freedom helped to reconcile relations between the Zebaris and Barzanis. Biographic Note -------------- ¶15. (C) Shaykh Zebari is affiliated with the KDP. He claimed that many Kurdish tribes view the Zebari tribe as an older brother because of its reputation as a powerbroker and fair representative of all Iraqi tribes. Zebari said he worked with Coalition Forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom, showing us a certificate General Abizaid awarded him. KDP President Masud Barzani asked Zebari to use his tribal militia to support Coalition Forces when they entered northern Iraq in early 2003. Zebari is the brother of Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari and the uncle of KRG President Masud Barzani. Zebari has three wives, 10 sons, and 12 daughters. He does not speak English. Comment -------------- ¶12. (C) Shaykh Zebari seems to have straddled for many years the poor relations between the Barzanis and the Zebari branch in Mosul. Shaykh Zebari's blood relations to both groups legitimize his intermediary status between them. The Barzani-Zebari conflict appears to have simmered down due to Coalition intervention. Zebari's claim that his tribe does not receive financial support from the political parties conflicts with what a Surchi Tribal chief a day earlier told IPAO's (reftel). Iraqi tribes' influence is probably slowly declining amid the pressures of ethnic politics as well as economic and social modernization; but Zebari is probably correct that the Kurdish tribes remain well positioned to affect social change in northern Iraq. ORESTE