NINEWA: KURD-ON-YEZIDI VIOLENCE IN AYN SIFNI

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 000570

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/18/2017
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PBTS IZ
SUBJECT: NINEWA: KURD-ON-YEZIDI VIOLENCE IN AYN SIFNI
(SHIKHAN DISTRICT) 15 FEBRUARY 2006

REF: BAGHDAD 00559

Classified By: Classified by Ninewa PRT Team Leader James Knight: 1.4 (
B) and (D).

This is a Ninewa Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) message.

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SUMMARY
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1. (C) An 'honor killing' of a presumably unfaithful Kurdish
wife after her travel with Yezidi
companions employed as local police led to anti-Yezidi
violence by Kurds in Ayn Sifni, the major
town of Ninewa's Shikhan District. Damage from the violence
was narrowly targeted and relatively
limited. The only death reported was that of the Kurd woman
at the hands of her Kurd spouse.
However, Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Peshmerga
militia apparently intervened to prevent
police or fire brigade response to the violence and have
since closed the town to most non-residents.
The town is now calm, although Yezidi resentment remains
high. END SUMMARY.

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A FAMILY FIGHT ESCALATES . . .
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2. (SBU) In view of wildly conflicting accounts of both the
incident and its extent, PRT
representatives including IPAO Holtsnider and Ninewa PRT's
Governance Team visited Ayn Sifni 17 Feb.
This visit followed several earlier PRT visits to Ayn Sifni
in pursuit of the PRT's provincial
communications outreach program -- the PRT team is well known
to local authorities and community
leaders.


3. (C) Accounts of the precipitating incident for this
violence generally agree that the Kurd woman
involved traveled with two Yezidi police officers from Ayn
Sifni to Dahuk city, but was returned to
Ayn Sifni after her arrest at a checkpoint near the city.
She was killed by her Kurd husband after her
return to Ayn Sifni; most accounts agree that the two Yezidi
policemen were arrested by KRG Assayish
intelligence officers in Dahuk. The two Yezidi policemen
involved were among Shikhan District Mayor
Na'mo's bodyguards, and were ordered released by the Mayor
after their return to Ayn Sifni. The release
of these police appears to have triggered the violence --
both have since fled Ayn Sifni.


4. (C) Two homes believed to be occupied by the Yezidi
policemen involved were burned and sacked; a
Yezidi store owned by relatives of one of the policemen was
ransacked; and two Yezidi community
centers (Lalish Education Center and Sheikh Mend convention
hall) were looted and burned. The
residence of Yezidi Emir Tahsin Beg was raked by heavy
machine-gun fire and three cars parked in
front of his house were burned. The Lalish shrine (not the
education center) -- the holiest Yezidi
site -- was not/not damaged.

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. . . BRINGING THE KRG DOWN IN FORCE
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5. (C) While in Shikhan, PRT members met KDP Chair for
Shikhan District Fareq Farouq; KRG
President Massoud Barzani's brother Sedad Barzani (apparently
in Ayn Sifni as Barzani's personal
envoy); Deputy Mayor of Shikhan District Mushtiq Asmat Abed;
Yezidi Emir Tahsin Beg; and Yezidi
supreme spiritual leader Baba Sheikh. Several other KRG
officials and a number of lay Yezidis also
attended these meetings. Dahuk Assayish commander Khasro
Zebari and Dahuk Provincial Director of
Police MG Abdullah Mohammed Yusif met the PRT team at the
edge of Ayn Sifni, but did not join the
team's meetings in the town.


6. (C) These leaders and authorities concurred that these
disturbances were led by Sunni Kurds inflamed
by the Yezidi policemen's relationship with the Kurd woman
who had traveled to Dahuk. Yezidi leaders
insisted they counseled the community's Yezidis to remain in
their homes and not resist the Kurds, but
noted that some Peshmerga were among those leading Kurds in
attacks on Yezidi homes and facilities.
(Note: Gunfire damage to Emir Beg's house would seem to
corroborate that claim. End note.)

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7. (C) Yezidi interlocutors also insisted that Kurdish
Peshmerga prevented police or firemen from
intervening to prevent or contain damage during the
disturbance. They further note that about 1000
Peshmerga are securing the town (Note: Ayn Sifni has a total
population of about 15,000. End note.).


8. (C) A number of younger Yezidis blame KDP Chair Farouq
for inciting the violence against Yezidis.
Emir Beg pointed out that Coalition forces must remain in the
area to contain Kurd repression of
Yezidis. Beg added that Yezidis across Ninewa - notably in
al-Hamdaniya, Shikhan, and Sinjar
Districts -- and in Dahuk Province of the KRG are
increasingly unwilling to tolerate ongoing Kurd
repression.

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COMMENT
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9. (C) The extraordinarily dense presence of senior KRG
officials and security forces in Ayn Sifni after
the 15 February violence suggests these disturbances are a
significant threat to the KRG's expansion
agenda -- particularly since it occurred in a District of
Ninewa generally believed to be
predisposed toward expeditious incorporation into the KRG
(reftel). Shikhan has been at least
partially administered by the KRG since 1991, but KRG
territoriality towards this part of Ninewa
province presents its own issues. Alienation of Yezidis by
Kurds will cause the KRG great problems
across Ninewa -- especially in Sinjar District, which also
has a significant Yezidi population. KRG
damage control in Ayn Sifni has been clumsy and apparently
ineffective in this regard, but the
urgency with which it has been pursued is remarkable.


10. (SBU) COMMENT CONTINUED: Sadly, the least contentious
aspect of this episode was the death of
the Kurdish woman whose relationship with the Yezidi police
sparked these disturbances -- no objection
was offered by any of the parties to her killing. END COMMENT.
KHALILZAD