SOUTH ANGRY WITH KURDS ABOUT KIRKUK, ELECTIONS LAW

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 002575

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/13/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL IR IZ
SUBJECT: SOUTH ANGRY WITH KURDS ABOUT KIRKUK, ELECTIONS LAW

Classified By: Senior Advisor Gordon Gray for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

Summary
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1. (C) In meetings with Senior Advisor Gordon Gray August
5-7, leaders in Babil and Najaf expressed disgust with
Kurdish actions related to the provincial elections law,
especially the July 31 vote by the Kirkuk Provincial Council
(PC) threatening annexation to the Kurdistan region (KRG).
Both Shi'a and Sunnis stated in no uncertain terms that
Kirkuk must remain part of Iraq. ISCI provincial and
municipal leaders in both provinces went out of their way to
criticize the Kurds despite the party's long-time alliance
with the PUK. Tribal leaders in Babil were especially
strident in their remarks. Moves toward southern regional
formation -- an option favored by some in Basra -- were not
mentioned by interlocutors in the Middle Euphrates region.
End summary.

ISCI rank and file not happy
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2. (C) While meeting on August 5 with Najaf PC Chairman Abdul
Hussein Moussawi and eight of his fellow PC members, Gray
heard consistent, unsolicited criticism of Kurdish activities
on the provincial election law. Most mentioned Kirkuk as
their first priority, before pressing regional issues such as
electricity and water production. All but one of the PC
members were either ISCI/Badr members, or (as in the case of
Moussawi) independents closely affiliated with the province's
ISCI governor and/or deputy governor. Moussawi asked the
U.S. to "stick with the Iraqi government and uphold the
constitution." PC member Sheikh Fayid said,"people in Najaf
think the Kurds are asking for too much. They think they're
trying to form their own country with U.S. support. This
needs to be addressed."


3. (C) In a forum the following day at FOB Iskandariyah
(Babil),Mussayib city council chairman and ISCI member Jawad
Qadim Jabbar reiterated these concerns to Gray. When POLOFF
asked about ISCI's decision to vote with the Kurds in the
Council of Representatives on the provincial elections law on
July 22, Jabbar shook his head and said of the Kurds: "They
(mis)used their relationship with the Shi'a. This is not a
working relationship." A recent convert to ISCI, Jabbar
added that he did not understand well how the ISCI and Dawa
leadership coordinate with Kurds in Baghdad.

Tribal response
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4. (C) In the mixed Sunni-Shi'a region of North Babil, tribal
leaders were especially pointed in their criticisms of the
Kurds. Sheikh Sabbah Khafaji, chairman of the Iskandariyah
city council (and a Sunni leader of the mixed Sunni-Shi'a
Khafaji tribe) said during a June 7 meeting with Gray,
"Kirkuk is Kurdish and Turkomen and Sunni. And it is part of
Iraq." Another sheikh on the city council, wearing Shi'a
head dress, upped the ante by saying, "We will fight for
Kirkuk. We will march up to Kirkuk if we have to." In a
meeting with Gray later that day, leading sheikhs from the
Janabi party sent Gray the same message. They added that the
primarily Sunni Janabi tribe is helping organize a movement
to unite Sunni and Shi'a tribes of Southern and Central Iraq
for the upcoming provincial elections. When asked by POLOFF
if the Sunni and Shi'a tribes had made any overtures to
Kurdish tribes, the sheikh was confused as to why the
question was even asked.

Comment
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5. (C) Recent actions by the Kurds have awakened nationalist
feelings throughout the Middle Euphrates. It is difficult to
assess whether the grassroots ISCI dissatisfaction will have
any effect on the party's leadership decisions concerning the
ISCI-Kurdish alliance, but party officials at various levels
will feel compelled to make their differences with the Kurds
public to be viable candidates for office. The strong
reaction by Sunni and Shi'a tribal leaders indicates that, if
the burgeoning movement to organize politically along Arab
tribal lines is successful at the provincial and eventually
national level, their representatives from the Middle
Euphrates will be much more confrontational with the Kurds.
End comment.
CROCKER