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.

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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,

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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