Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08BAGHDAD2897
2008-09-08 14:00:00
CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN
Embassy Baghdad
Cable title:  

KURDISH REPS CLAIM AQI LINKS AT NEW IRAQI POLICE

Tags:  PGOV PTER PINS PINR MOPS IZ 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO7679
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #2897/01 2521400
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 081400Z SEP 08
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9297
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 002897 

NOFORN
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/07/2018
TAGS: PGOV PTER PINS PINR MOPS IZ
SUBJECT: KURDISH REPS CLAIM AQI LINKS AT NEW IRAQI POLICE
STATION IN JALOULA

REF: A. BAGHDAD 002759

B. BAGHDAD 2838

Classified By: Political Affairs Minister-Counselor Robert Ford for rea
sons 1.4 (b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 002897

NOFORN
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/07/2018
TAGS: PGOV PTER PINS PINR MOPS IZ
SUBJECT: KURDISH REPS CLAIM AQI LINKS AT NEW IRAQI POLICE
STATION IN JALOULA

REF: A. BAGHDAD 002759

B. BAGHDAD 2838

Classified By: Political Affairs Minister-Counselor Robert Ford for rea
sons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (U) This is a PRT Diyala reporting cable.


2. (C/NF) Summary: Diyala Provincial Council (PC) Chairman
Ibrahim Bajellan has alleged a newly set-up police force at
Jaloula in the Khanaqin district has links to Al-Qaeda in
Iraq (AQI) and threatens Kurdish and regional security. He
charged that Hassan Abdullah Hussein Al-Kurawi, the
newly-appointed commander of the Iraqi Police (IP) battalion
in Jaloula, is a member of the Kurawi clan, which he said has
known AQI ties. Citing the Kurawi clan's role in Saddam
Hussein's Arabization program to dispossess Kurds, Bajellan
predicted a Kurawi staffed IP battalion would both block the
return of Kurdish internally displaced persons (IDPs) and
actively push their further displacement. Two Kurdish PC
members echoed similar views. End Summary.

Charges New IP Station will be Anti-Kurdish
--------------


3. (C/NF) PRT Team Leader met with PC Chair Ibrahim Bajellan
and Provincial Council (PC) members Amal Al-Zankani and
Hussam Al-Jaaf - all members of the Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan (PUK) ) on September 1 and September 2
respectively. All raised Kurdish concerns that the GOI,
through the actions of LtGen Ali Ghedan, commander of the
Fifth Iraqi Army (IA),is setting up new police forces with
an anti-Kurdish character in areas currently occupied by
Kurds in northeast Diyala. Bajellan charged specifically
that the recent creation of an IP station in Jaloula in the
Khanaqin district is a violation of Article 140 since it was
created without consultation with local government officials.
He said that while local residents did not object to a new
police station, they held the new battalion's composition
should be representative of the area's Turcomen, Kurd, and
Arab populations. Bajellan claimed that other local Sunni
tribes shared his views. (Embassy Comment: Our reading of

Article 140 does not require that provincial police consult
with district officials about building sites per se. End
Comment.)

Charges of Kurawi Tribe Links to AQI
--------------


4. (C/NF) Bajellan said that Hassan Abdullah Hussein
Al-Kurawi, the newly-appointed commander of the Iraqi Police
(IP) battalion in Jaloula, belongs to the Kurawi tribe, which
is alleged to have strong links to AQI. He claimed that
Hassan's brothers, Najim (a suicide bomber) and Hotebah, died
in attacks on Coalition Forces (CF) in 2007. (Note: CF have
no evidence linking Hassan or his immediate family to AQI.
End Note.) Bajellan also claimed the new IP battalion in
Jaloula town is comprised primarily of members of the Kurawi
tribe - Sunni tribesmen transplanted to the Hamrin area under
Saddam Hussein's Arabization program. Bajellan alleged that
Kurawi tribal leader Sheik Faisal had led AQI parades in 2006
and 2007 before CF began major operations to clear AQI out of
Diyala. Bajellan, Al-Jaaf, and Al-Zankani all maintained
that AQI continues to operate in Kurawi tribal areas around
the Hamrin Mountains and nearby towns. (Note: CF report no
significant AQI activity in this area since the Iraqi Army's
arrival. End Note.)

A Kurawi-Dominated Police Force Will Deter IDP Returns
-------------- --------------


4. (C/NF) Bajellan argued a Kurawi police chief would
inevitably fill IP ranks in Jaloula with fellow Kurawi
tribesmen. This apprehension is fueling concerns that the IP
would not only block the return of Kurdish internally
displaced persons (IDPs),but would actively push Kurds to
leave. Al-Jaaf claimed that Kurawi members from southern
Iraq had previously been given houses and farms confiscated
from Kurds. Accordingly, he charged the Kurawi had a vested
interest in preventing the return of Kurdish IDPs to the
region.

Kurdish PC Members: New IP Force will be Anti-Kurdish
-------------- -------------- -------------- --------------


5. (C/NF) In follow-on conversations with Amal Al-Zankani
and Hussam Al-Jaaf on September 2, both agreed with
Bajellan's report of Kurdish apprehensions that LtGen Ali
Ghedan was forming anti-Kurdish ISF units in Diyala. Al-Jaaf
and Al-Zankani noted that almost all of the commanding
officers for the Iraqi Army (IA) and Iraqi Police (IP) units

BAGHDAD 00002897 002 OF 002


currently in Diyala previously served in Saddam Hussein's
security forces. Al-Jaaf added that many still retain the
Arab nationalist orientation of Saddam's regime. Al-Jaaf and
Al-Zankani stressed the need to retain Peshmerga in the area
to help prevent "improper" action by the ISF.


6. (C/NF) Al-Zankani reported that the creation of the new
police battalion had more than doubled the number of Kurawi
in the Diyala police directorate from 143 to 350, including
Kurawi officers in most of the top positions. She claimed
that 72 members of the Kurawi tribe had changed their names
or titles to disguise their tribal affiliation. She
expressed concern that, "given time," Jaloula Police Chief
Hassan Abdullah Hussein Al-Kurawi would replace non-Kurawi
police officers with Kurawi tribal members and create another
"Dirty Force" to control the social and political activities
of the area's Arab, Turkish, Turcomen, and Kurdish
population. (Note: "Dirty Force" was self selected nickname
of the elite and secretive enforcer squad of Saddam's
Republican Guard. End Note.)


7. (C/NF) Al-Zankani also mentioned allegations that in late
August Hassan Al-Kurawi had personally intervened to allow a
vehicle that turned out to contain a vehicle borne improvised
explosive device (VBIED) to enter an area near a police
recruiting station. The VBIED subsequently detonated,
killing thirty prospective recruits according to Iraqi media
reports. She stated that some people suspect Hassan was
involved, and that this was an attempt to discourage
non-Kurawi from joining the IP. Al-Zankani provided a list
of police officers at the station so CF could check their
names for possible AQI operatives.

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


8. (C/NF) Comment: It is interesting that these Kurdish
officials are throwing around such accusations against
reconstituted police units even though we have no evidence
against the individuals in question. These allegations by
Diyala's Kurdish leadership's may reflect their increasing
suspicion of GOI intentions toward Kurdish-occupied areas in
the province. They remain insistent that the unresolved
stand-off between IA and Peshmerga in Khanaqin is yet another
indicator that the GOI wants to avoid implementation of
Article 140 provisions in Diyala's disputed areas, and
perhaps elsewhere in the north. (ref B). The presence of
former Saddam Hussein officers commanding ISF units in Diyala
also fuels Kurdish apprehensions. Even if they do not truly
believe the allegations that they have passed to us, they may
be making the accusations to justify Kurdish claims that
local Kurdish populations in northern Diyala need to be
protected by Kurdish forces. End Comment.
CROCKER