LOCAL KURDISH LEADER DISCUSSES KURDS IN BAGHDAD

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 001333 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/15/2017 TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM IZ SUBJECT: LOCAL KURDISH LEADER DISCUSSES KURDS IN BAGHDAD Classified By: Acting Political Counselor Robert Gilchrist per 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary: Sadoon Shafi, head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) office in Baghdad, discussed with Poloff April 5 the plight of Kurds living in Baghdad, saying that they find it very difficult to get contracts or find jobs. At the same time, he thought prospects were good for the PUK and the Kurds in Baghdad in the next elections. He said that the main Kurdish players in Baghdad had met recently to coordinate policy and discuss Baghdad security, and he also commented on constitutional review and the improved health of President Jalal Talabani. End Summary. -------------- Kurds in Baghdad -------------- ¶2. (C) Shafi told Poloff April 5 that both MNSTC-I and the Ministry of Trade have been withholding contracts from the Baghdad Kurds in favor of Shia and Sunni bidders (mainly Shia). He said their mindset is that the Kurds have their own prosperous region so why should they get anything in Baghdad. This is unfair, since those Kurds still in Baghdad (most Kurds left after OIF, according to Shafi) planned to remain and needed jobs. He is working to change that mindset and he asked the Embassy to assist him. ¶2. (C) Shafi thought that the PUK had an advantage with the locals over the KDP in Baghdad because of the way it had handled the Sadriya bombing earlier this year and because of its superior efforts at outreach. He said the PUK gave the victims of the Sadriya bombing one million Iraqi dinars and flew the most critical to Sulaymaniyah for treatment, while the KDP gave them little. The PUK even treated and sent north Arabs injured in the bombing. He described how an Arab who had lost his leg went to Kurdistan and returned with a prosthesis, and he claimed that this had generated a lot of good will with Arabs in the community. He said the Kurds are mostly concentrated in a few areas in Baghdad, but within these areas they are they are intermixed with Arabs. ¶3. (C) He thought the Fayli Kurds would vote their ethnicity in future provincial and national elections instead of their religion (Note: many Fayli Kurds voted with the Shia and the Unified Iraqi Alliance list in the elections in December 2005) and both local PUK and KDP had been working to increase their membership among the Faylis. He admitted that in order to get more votes in the next elections the Baghdad PUK, KDP and some minority parties may ally with the Shia (what he called a 180 degree change) and accept a certain predetermined number of seats from them. He claimed that President Talabani had signed off on this strategy. -------------- Baghdad-Based Kurds Coordinating Policy -------------- ¶4. (C) He told Poloff about a meeting Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih held for a number of Kurds including parliament members, ministers and other officials, and important local members of all Kurdish parties at his residence in the International Zone April 3-4 to coordinate their position on a number of issues, including Kirkuk and the disputed territories. He claimed that during one session National Security Advisor Mowaffuq Rubai and the Defense Minister were present to discuss how the Kurds could help improve Baghdad security. Shafi explained that he had 280 local young men who needed something to do and would gladly help out with Baghdad security. He thought this was a much smarter option than bringing Kurds down from the Iraqi Kurdistan Region. He said the 280 locals are better equipped to handle Baghdad security because they live there and are familiar with the city and willing to help. He claimed that there would be a follow-up meeting in the next week or two with Rubai and the Defense Minister to agree on a course of action. -------------- Iraqi Constitution and Talabani -------------- ¶5. (C) Shafi thought the Iraqi Constitution needed to go further to protect the Kurds. He approved of the constitutional review proposals recently submitted to the Council of Representatives by the Kurdish Alliance. He denied any rumors that a succession struggle was beginning within the PUK due to Talabani,s recent illness. He stated that Talabani was "obviously fine now" and predicted he would live to be very old like his father. CROCKER