SABEAN-MANDEANS: UNDER SIEGE BUT HOLDING ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 001860

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/01/2019
TAGS: KDEM KIRF KJUS PGOV PHUM SOCI SMIG IZ
SUBJECT: SABEAN-MANDEANS: UNDER SIEGE BUT HOLDING ON

REF: A. BAGHDAD 589

B. 2008 BAGHDAD 3244

C. 2008 BAGHDAD 3357

Classified By: Deputy Political Counselor Steve Walker for Reason 1.4 (
d)

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Summary
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1. (C) Sabean-Mandean leaders living in Iraq describe their
community as desperately wanting to remain and participate in
the country's political life rather than emigrate abroad,
despite being the frequent targets of criminal elements.
These leaders tell us that members of the community who are
living abroad as refugees would like to return to Iraq, but
can not, since Sabean-Mandeans continue to be the victims of
criminals who murder, kidnap and extort them for money. At
the same time, the Sabean-Mandean community sees the benefit
of having a member on the Baghdad Provincial Council and
would like to have a parliamentary seat set aside for them as
part of the January 2010 national elections to guarantee that
their voice is heard. End summary.

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Sabean-Mandeans by the Numbers
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2. (C) From June 24-29, Poloff met with four Sabean-Mandean
leaders, including the deputy Patriarch of the Sabean-Mandean
community Sheikh Alaa Aziz Tareesh, the Secretary of the
Sabean-Mandean Council Husain al-Zuhairy, Iraqi ambassadorial
nominee Dr. Matheel al-Sabti, and Sabean-Mandean Endowment
Director Zahroon Thomah. These leaders painted a picture of
a community that desires to remain in Iraq despite the
hardships that it has faced (refs A and B). Al-Zuhairy told
Poloff that the Mandeans consider themselves to be the
original inhabitants of Iraq and stated that "if we leave
Iraq completely, it will be the end of our religion."


3. (C) Since 2003, the Sabean-Mandean community has witnessed
the majority of its members flee Iraq. UNHCR reports
indicate that there are approximately 12,000 Sabean-Mandeans
registered as refugees in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and
Egypt or four percent of all Iraqi refugees. According to
statistics from the Department's Bureau of Population,
Refugees and Migration, 1,210 Sabean-Mandeans refugees have
been resettled to the United States as of June 1, 2009, with
another 768 applications pending. Mandean Endowment Director
Thomah told Poloff that the Patriarch of the Sabean-Mandeans,
Sheikh Sattar Hillo, had recently received his residency
permit to live in Australia. Nevertheless, Sheikh Tareesh
told Poloff on June 29 that there were "lots" of
Sabean-Mandean families who were thinking of returning to
Iraq, but that recent security incidents (see below) had
persuaded them to remain abroad. He predicted that when the
security situation is safe enough, many Mandeans would return
to Iraq.


4. (C) At the same time, Sabean-Mandean leaders report that
their community in Iraq remains larger than previously
reported, although their estimates vary considerably and may
be inaccurate. On the high end, Mandean Council Secretary
al-Zuhairy told Poloff on June 29 that 20,000 members of the
50,000 strong Mandean community remain in Iraq. Mandean
Endowment Director Zahroon, in contrast, estimated that the
Mandean community had 12,000 members remaining in Iraq with
6,000 located in Baghdad. (Note: In the 2008 International
Religious Freedom Report, the Sabean-Mandean community was
estimated to have 3,500-5,000 members in Iraq. End note.)
Both Al-Zuhairy and Zahroon noted that the Sabean-Mandean
community is widely dispersed across Iraq with larger
communities located in Baghdad, Imara, Nasriyah and Basra and
smaller communities located in diverse locations like
Qsmaller communities located in diverse locations like
Diwaniyah, Ramadi, Kirkuk, Erbil and Wasit. According to
these leaders, the only prerequisite for a Mandean community
is the presence of running water, which plays a key role in
their religious practices. In Baghdad the community
continues to host large baptismal ceremonies along the Tigris
having performed one on March 3 that involved hundreds of
people. Mandean leaders noted that another ceremony was
planned for July 19.

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Under Siege
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5. (C) On a socio-economic level, the Sabean-Mandean
community is well known for its beliefs in nonviolence and
for its involvement in the gold and jewelry trade, a
combination that continues to make it a target for criminal
elements. While Mandean leaders concede that the overall


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