Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07BAGHDAD3158
2007-09-20 05:47:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Baghdad
Cable title:
PRT TIKRIT: NOTES FROM VILLAGE OF TUZ
how-toVZCZCXRO2791 PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK DE RUEHGB #3158/01 2630547 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 200547Z SEP 07 FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3465 INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 003158
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/19/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV IZ
SUBJECT: PRT TIKRIT: NOTES FROM VILLAGE OF TUZ
Classified By: Classified by Steven Buckler, PRT Team Leader, for reaso
ns 1.5 (b) and (d).
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 003158
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/19/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV IZ
SUBJECT: PRT TIKRIT: NOTES FROM VILLAGE OF TUZ
Classified By: Classified by Steven Buckler, PRT Team Leader, for reaso
ns 1.5 (b) and (d).
1. (U) This is a PRT Tikrit, Salah ad Din cable.
2. (C) SUMMARY. In a recent visit to ethnically-mixed Tuz,
PRTOFF found a community increasingly distant both
psychologically and politically from the Provincial
Government in Salah ad Din. END SUMMARY.
Where are the PC Members?
--------------
3. (U) PRTOFF visited Tuz on September 14 accompanied by
Salah ad Din,s Deputy Governor, several Tikrit-area
Provincial Council (PC) members and a number of Provincial
Directors General (DGs). Tuz is an ethnically mixed town of
about 80,000 divided between Kurds, Turkmens and Arabs in the
northeast corner of Salah ad Din. Given its ethnic makeup,
many residents see Tuz as in the orbit of Kirkuk, not Tikrit
or any other Salah ad Din city.
4. (C) The primary purpose of the visit was for Provincial
officials to meet with the 15 members of the PC from Tuz who
have essentially stopped coming to PC meetings. As a result
of the Sunni election boycott, Tuz members account for almost
40 percent of the PC seats, even though Tuz has only 3
percent of the population. As the PC has adopted rules of
procedure that require a quorum (21 of 41 members) for
decisions to be taken, the absence of Tuz members has meant
that there has been no quorum and no PC votes for several
months. Tuz members say that the insecure roads from Tuz to
Tikrit prevent them from attending.
5. (C) Upon arrival in Tuz, the delegation arrived to a room
devoid of the Tuz PC members. Various rationales for their
absence were proffered to PRTOFF, including that they did not
know about the meeting, it was Ramadan, or they are
boycotting the PC because it does not do anything.
6. (C) PRTOFF polled the Tikrit attendees and several
officials from Tuz and found a general consensus that the Tuz
members see little opportunity for personal gain and feel
little connection with the government of Salah ad Din. Angry
with being stood up in Tuz after a dry and dusty ride on the
first day of Ramadan, Tikrit-area PC members vowed to PRTOFF
that they would find a way to get a quorum without counting
on the Tuz group.
Kurdish IA Brigade Not Patrolling Road
--------------
7. (C) The Deputy Provincial Governor and one PC member told
PRTOFF that the Iraqi Army Brigade responsible for Tuz was
not patrolling the portion of the road from Tuz to Tikrit
under its responsibility and was telling Tuz residents that
it was much safer to travel to Kirkuk. (Comment: The US Army
Colonel with responsibility for that portion of the road says
that it is in fact safe. End Comment.) The Deputy Governor
believes that the fact that the Brigade primarily consists of
Kurds means that it is are trying to steer Tuz into the orbit
of the Kurdish north, and to reduce ties with Salah ad Din.
8. (C) COMMENT: Given its remote location on the eastern
side of the Hamerin mountains, and its ethnic makeup, it is
no surprise that many Tuz residents associate themselves more
closely with the Kurdish north than with their neighbors in
Salah ad Din Province. One solution to Tuz non-participation
in the PC would be to hold new elections, which would likely
result in a marked reduction of Tuz's power. So long as the
boycott continues, the Salah ad Din PC will have a hard time
getting sufficient members at meetings to achieve quorum.
The need to pass a Provincial budget in the near future will
mean that the PC will either need to muster almost all the
non-Tuz members or pass it without a quorum, which is
contrary to the rules of procedure which the PRT worked so
hard to get the PC to pass. Of course if the PC takes this
route, Tuz will be shut out of projects and money, further
cutting them off from the Provincial government. PRT will
work to encourage the Tuz members to attend meetings and
stress that they will not have a better opportunity to use
their clout than right now. In the absence of Tuz
participation, PRT will work to ensure that the Provincial
budget includes a share of projects proportional to Tuz,
population and to stress that the best way to drive Tuz
further into the arms of the Kurdish north would be to shut
them out of GOI projects. END COMMENT.
9. (U) For additional reporting from PRT Tikrit, Salah ad
Din, please see our SIPRNET reporting blog:
http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Tikrit.
BAGHDAD 00003158 002 OF 002
BUTENIS
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/19/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV IZ
SUBJECT: PRT TIKRIT: NOTES FROM VILLAGE OF TUZ
Classified By: Classified by Steven Buckler, PRT Team Leader, for reaso
ns 1.5 (b) and (d).
1. (U) This is a PRT Tikrit, Salah ad Din cable.
2. (C) SUMMARY. In a recent visit to ethnically-mixed Tuz,
PRTOFF found a community increasingly distant both
psychologically and politically from the Provincial
Government in Salah ad Din. END SUMMARY.
Where are the PC Members?
--------------
3. (U) PRTOFF visited Tuz on September 14 accompanied by
Salah ad Din,s Deputy Governor, several Tikrit-area
Provincial Council (PC) members and a number of Provincial
Directors General (DGs). Tuz is an ethnically mixed town of
about 80,000 divided between Kurds, Turkmens and Arabs in the
northeast corner of Salah ad Din. Given its ethnic makeup,
many residents see Tuz as in the orbit of Kirkuk, not Tikrit
or any other Salah ad Din city.
4. (C) The primary purpose of the visit was for Provincial
officials to meet with the 15 members of the PC from Tuz who
have essentially stopped coming to PC meetings. As a result
of the Sunni election boycott, Tuz members account for almost
40 percent of the PC seats, even though Tuz has only 3
percent of the population. As the PC has adopted rules of
procedure that require a quorum (21 of 41 members) for
decisions to be taken, the absence of Tuz members has meant
that there has been no quorum and no PC votes for several
months. Tuz members say that the insecure roads from Tuz to
Tikrit prevent them from attending.
5. (C) Upon arrival in Tuz, the delegation arrived to a room
devoid of the Tuz PC members. Various rationales for their
absence were proffered to PRTOFF, including that they did not
know about the meeting, it was Ramadan, or they are
boycotting the PC because it does not do anything.
6. (C) PRTOFF polled the Tikrit attendees and several
officials from Tuz and found a general consensus that the Tuz
members see little opportunity for personal gain and feel
little connection with the government of Salah ad Din. Angry
with being stood up in Tuz after a dry and dusty ride on the
first day of Ramadan, Tikrit-area PC members vowed to PRTOFF
that they would find a way to get a quorum without counting
on the Tuz group.
Kurdish IA Brigade Not Patrolling Road
--------------
7. (C) The Deputy Provincial Governor and one PC member told
PRTOFF that the Iraqi Army Brigade responsible for Tuz was
not patrolling the portion of the road from Tuz to Tikrit
under its responsibility and was telling Tuz residents that
it was much safer to travel to Kirkuk. (Comment: The US Army
Colonel with responsibility for that portion of the road says
that it is in fact safe. End Comment.) The Deputy Governor
believes that the fact that the Brigade primarily consists of
Kurds means that it is are trying to steer Tuz into the orbit
of the Kurdish north, and to reduce ties with Salah ad Din.
8. (C) COMMENT: Given its remote location on the eastern
side of the Hamerin mountains, and its ethnic makeup, it is
no surprise that many Tuz residents associate themselves more
closely with the Kurdish north than with their neighbors in
Salah ad Din Province. One solution to Tuz non-participation
in the PC would be to hold new elections, which would likely
result in a marked reduction of Tuz's power. So long as the
boycott continues, the Salah ad Din PC will have a hard time
getting sufficient members at meetings to achieve quorum.
The need to pass a Provincial budget in the near future will
mean that the PC will either need to muster almost all the
non-Tuz members or pass it without a quorum, which is
contrary to the rules of procedure which the PRT worked so
hard to get the PC to pass. Of course if the PC takes this
route, Tuz will be shut out of projects and money, further
cutting them off from the Provincial government. PRT will
work to encourage the Tuz members to attend meetings and
stress that they will not have a better opportunity to use
their clout than right now. In the absence of Tuz
participation, PRT will work to ensure that the Provincial
budget includes a share of projects proportional to Tuz,
population and to stress that the best way to drive Tuz
further into the arms of the Kurdish north would be to shut
them out of GOI projects. END COMMENT.
9. (U) For additional reporting from PRT Tikrit, Salah ad
Din, please see our SIPRNET reporting blog:
http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Tikrit.
BAGHDAD 00003158 002 OF 002
BUTENIS