PRESIDENT TALABANI ON KIRKUK, SYRIA, MALIKI

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 000032 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/06/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL PINS IZ SUBJECT: PRESIDENT TALABANI ON KIRKUK, SYRIA, MALIKI Classified By: Classified by Amb. Ryan Crocker for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: During a December 27 lunch, Iraqi President Talabani told the Ambassador that his recent mission to Kirkuk had yielded tangible progress in reconciling the different ethnic groups in the area. Talabani confirmed that the Presidency Council had signed the parliamentary resolution that will provide a legal basis for the UK and other coalition partners to remain in Iraq in the new year. Ambassador Crocker urged the President to organize an Executive Council meeting to take up implementation of the Security and Strategic Framework Agreements. Talabani reported that the Syrians had struck a concessionary tone during VP Hashemi's recent visit to Damascus, pledging to cooperate on rehabilitating the Banyas oil pipeline. Talabani also noted that he had invited PM Maliki and his family to visit Kurdistan. Asked whether the PM had reason to worry about conspiracies hatched during recent gatherings of senior GOI officials in Kurdistan, Talabani put it down to Maliki's paranoia, while DPM Salih said the Prime Minister's fears could become a self-fulfilling prophecy. End summary. -------------- A Fruitful Mission in Kirkuk -------------- ¶2. (C) At a December 27 lunch hosted by President Jalal Talabani, also attended by Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih, the Ambassador heard that the President's mission to promote reconciliation among the Kurdish, Arab, and Turkoman communities in Kirkuk had yielded a number of tangible results. While Talabani said he had disappointed locals demanding that Kirkuk be established as a separate region of Iraq, "I told them I had sworn upon the Qur'an to uphold the constitution," he had brokered an agreement that will allow instruction of the Turkoman language, satisfying longstanding community demand. ¶3. (C) In addition, Talabani reported, a new power sharing formula had been agreed, with a Kurd as provincial governor, a Turkoman as president of the provincial council, and an Arab as president of the municipality. Furthermore, Talabani related, he had arranged for an unprecedented meeting between KRG President Massud Barzani and the leader of the Turkoman Front. Talabani said he had issued grants to a number of community NGOs working in Kirkuk and had also made a grant to augment the stipends of 387 Kirkuki Turkoman students studying in Turkey. ¶4. (C) Talabani speculated that the Turkish Government had played a role in getting Kirkuk's Turkomen to moderate their stance. There was much talk of "Kurdish-Turkoman brotherhood," the President related. The Ambassador applauded Talabani's bold initiative in going to Kirkuk and the successes he had achieved. DPM Salih also thought Talabani had achieved a breakthrough. "In this region, symbolism matters," he underlined. Both PM Maliki and Turkish President Gul had welcomed the effort, Talabani reported. The President said he expected President Gul's postponed visit to Kirkuk would be rescheduled for January, but asked that this information remain confidential. -------------- Presidency Council Signs Coalition Resolution -------------- ¶5. (C) President Talabani informed the Ambassador that the Presidency Council had endorsed the resolution passed by parliament on December 23, authorizing the Prime Ministers office to finalize legal arrangements with the UK, Australia, Romania, El Salvador, and Estonia for their continued presence in 2009. With the Presidency Council's endorsement, Qpresence in 2009. With the Presidency Council's endorsement, the resolution can be formally published in the official gazette. -------------- SOFA Implementation -------------- ¶6. (C) The Ambassador urged that the Executive Council (composed of the President, the two Vice Presidents, the Prime Minister and his two Deputies) meet in the near future to reach decisions establishing Iraqi mechanisms for SoFA/SFA implementation. While the GOI has already formed a functioning committee to work on implementation of the Strategic Framework Agreement, progress on the SOFA has lagged. Talabani agreed that he would convene and Executive Council meeting to take up the matter in the near future. -------------- Maliki and Kurdistan Conspiracies BAGHDAD 00000032 002 OF 003 -------------- ¶7. (C) The President told the Ambassador that he had invited PM Maliki and his family to spend some time in Dokan, a bucolic retreat in Kurdistan and the Talabani clan's ancestral home. The President said Maliki had accepted the invitation and believed this would be a good opportunity to build cooperation with the Prime Minister. Dokan could also be the venue for an Executive Council gathering to reach key decisions on SFA/SA implementation and other issues. The Ambassador noted that Maliki had been deeply suspicious about the late November gathering in Dokan of the Kurdish leadership plus Iraq's two Vice Presidents, believing that the group may have been plotting his downfall. Noting the assumption that Mashhadani's removal as Speaker had been "cooked" in Dokan, the Ambassador wondered whether the Prime Minister had anything to fear.DPM Salih responded that the Prime Minister's distrust of his GOI colleagues might evolve into a self-fulfilling prophecy of his fall from power. -------------- -------------- Vice President Hashemi Finds Syrians Conciliatory -------------- -------------- ¶8. (C) Talabani told the Ambassador he had just been briefed by Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi on the latter's visit to Damascus. Hashemi reported that President Asad had struck a conciliatory tone, saying "now that we understand the reasoning" behind Iraq's SFA/SA with the U.S., Syria would support the agreement. In response to Hashemi's complaints about Jihadist resistance figure Harith al-Dari, now resident in Syria, Asad reportedly undertook to limit his activities. On the activities of former Iraqi Ba'th Party figures on Syrian soil, Asad told Hashemi that they would be permitted to pursue political activity but not to pursue armed resistance against the GOI. -------------- Syria - Iraq Oil Prospects -------------- ¶9. (C) Talabani further related that Asad told Hashemi that Syria was ready to cooperate with Iraq on the rehabilitation of the Banyas oil pipeline. The Ambassador told the President and DPM Salih that was encouraged by the prospect of rehabilitating the Banyas pipeline, both because it would be good for Iraq's oil sector and because it would give Syria an interest in productive cooperation with its neighbor. This would also, of course, give Iraq leverage in its dealings with Syria, the Ambassador added. DPM Salih observed that the Syrians have found Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein Shahristani difficult to work with, but added that many of the Minister's Iraqi colleagues feel that same way. On the positive side, Salih added that both Shahristani, and Ali Baban, the Minister of Planning were adopting a more flexible attitude toward foreign investment in the energy sector, after a lengthy period of footdragging. -------------- New Parliamentary Speaker -------------- ¶10. (C) President Talabani briefly noted the race among Sunnis to replace Dr. Mahmoud Mashhadani, who resigned December 23 as Speaker of the Council of Representatives after a series of controversial outbursts. Talabani believed Sunni independent Hachim al-Hassani, Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP) Representative Usama Tikriti, and IIP caucus leader Ayad Samaraie were the front runners, although he had heard that Samaraie would likely take himself out of the running. Talabani also noted that Sheikh Khalaf al-Ulyan, a Mashhadani associate, was promoting Sunni independent/ex-Ba'thist Salih Al-Mutlaq for the post, but doubted the idea would gain QAl-Mutlaq for the post, but doubted the idea would gain traction. ¶11. (C) The Ambassador told the President and DPM Salih that he saw the turnover of the speakership as an opportunity to reinvigorate efforts to develop parliament's institutional capacity. The parliament has significant powers that it has so far failed to assert, he observed. It would be particularly useful to see the parliament exercise oversight over the ministries, he added. -------------- Iraq and the GCC -------------- ¶12. (C) DPM Salih recounted his recent visit to Bahrain and his discussion with Bahraini Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Al-Khalifa. Salih admitted he had been embarrassed by Sheikh Salman,s profession of appreciation for as a "great nation" for waging war against Iran in the BAGHDAD 00000032 003 OF 003 1980s and his regret that Arabs had not stood with Iraq at the time. Salih thanked the PM for his sympathetic emotions toward Iraq and hoped that this might translate into Bahraini support for Iraq's interest in joining the Gulf Cooperation Council. The Bahraini was noncommittal, he reported. CROCKER