NINEWA: KURDS AND ARABS TAKING STEPS TOWARD

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 000289

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

REL AUS, CAN, GBR, NZL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/31/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER ECON PINR IZ
SUBJECT: NINEWA: KURDS AND ARABS TAKING STEPS TOWARD
POLITICAL RECONCILIATION

REF: A. BAGHDAD 244

B. BAGHDAD 200

Classified By: NINEWA PRT LEADER JASON HYLAND: 1.4 (B) AND (D)

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


1. (C/REL ACGU) Summary: Provincial Vice Governor and
President of the Ninewa Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP)
Khasro Goran told PRT Leader January 21 that the Kurdish
parties had made strides with the Arab Sunni parties in
Ninewa Province in working together toward political
reconciliation. Goran opined that the De-Ba'athification law
would have little effect in Ninewa unless there were economic
reforms and growth in the province. Senior members of both
the KDP and the Sunni Arab-dominated Iraqi Islamic Party
(IIP) have been involved in interparty talks that have taken
place in Erbil over the past several months. In the wake of
the January 23 massive explosion in Mosul (reftels),the
provincial leadership is clearly all the more focused on the
imperative to avoid a further ethnic rift in this strategic
region of Iraq, and to move toward long-term reconciliation.
End Summary.

Kurds and Arab Sunnis Coming Together Politically
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2. (C/REL ACGU) Ninewa Vice Governor and Ninewa branch KDP
President Khasro Goran told PRT Leader January 21 that the
Kurdish Parties and the Arab Sunni Parties had been moving
toward political reconciliation in the province. The Kurdish
parties were easier to work with, since they were united
together with one voice. The Sunni parties were more
difficult to identify, since no one party represented all
Sunnis, nor had a strong following in any one place. Goran
said he had trouble identifying who the Sunni leadership was,
since anyone could claim to be a Sheikh and anyone could
claim to represent a large population of Sunnis. He said he
had been attempting to meet with anyone and everyone over the
past few weeks in an effort to identify and work with them to
find a political common ground.

KDP-IIP Talks Bearing Fruit
--------------


3. (C) Goran spoke highly of the Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP)
Chairman Dr. Mohammed Shakir, and stated that the KDP and the
IIP had recently signed an agreement on points of common
ground in the province (Note: this is part of a larger
agreement between the IIP and the Kurdish parties to
cooperate at the national level. End note). Goran asserted
that the KDP and IIP would continue to work together to bring
the Arab Sunni voice back to the provincial leadership. In a
separate meeting, Shakir told PRTOff the same, stressing the
need for political reconciliation. During a January 20
Provincial Council (PC) meeting, IIP PC member Hasan said
that for the first time since 2004, he believes the Kurds are
willing to work with the Sunni Arabs.

DeBa'athification Needs to Come with Economic Growth
-------------- --------------


4. (C) Responding to PRT Leader's question on the new
De-Ba'athification legislation, Goran stated that, in order
to make a difference, De-Ba'athification needed to come hand
in hand with economic development. Former generals and other
high level leaders in the former Ba'athist regime would
engage in business and entrepreneurial ventures, and would
not need to be in their old positions in the army or
government, if the economic and security situation improved.
Further, Goran stated that many of the people in the current
provincial government were former Ba'athists, but that was
not a problem (Note: Ninewa did not undergo a large scale
purge of mid and lower-level civil servants who were Ba'ath
members. End note). He said that in the Kurdistan Regional
Government (KRG) former officials with links to the Saddam
regime have become successful businessmen and left their
pasts behind because of the economic opportunities.

Comment
--------------


5. (C) The movement of the KDP and the IIP toward real
political reconciliation is promising in a province where the
majority of the population (60-70 percent Arab Sunni) has
little or no voice in provincial politics due to a partial
boycott of the previous elections. If free and fair
provincial elections were held tomorrow, the IIP would

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probably have a major voice in selecting Ninewa's new
governor but it would still need the KDP's support in a new
PC to govern effectively. Goran is right that Arab Sunnis in
the province do not have one or two leaders who speak for the
majority of their community, which is one of the main
obstacles to structuring effective negotiations on political
reconciliation between the Kurds and the Arab Sunnis. In the
wake of the January 23 massive explosion in Mosul (reftels),
the provincial leadership wants to avoid a further ethnic
rift, and move toward reconciliation. PRT will continue to
monitor and promote cooperation and communication among all
the political parties in the province to promote effective
political reconciliation across the broad spectrum of parties.
BUTENIS