RRT Erbil: Nawshirwan Mustafa on Free Press, Elections

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SUBJECT: RRT Erbil: Nawshirwan Mustafa on Free Press, Elections

(U) This is an Erbil Regional Reconstruction Team cable.

(U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for Internet distribution.

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Summary
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1. (SBU) During a March 17 visit to Sulaimaniyah, legendary
Peshmerga commander and Talabani political rival Nawshirwan Mustafa
gave RRT officers an impromptu tour of his Kurdistan News Network
(KNN),the Region's first private TV station. KNN is finishing its
test broadcast phase and will soon go to 24-hour, seven-day-a-week
programming; according to Nawshirwan, initial ratings have been
"incredible," with KNN quickly becoming the Region's most-watched TV
channel. KDP and PUK officials, startled by KNN's popularity, have
banned party members from appearing on the station, Nawshirwan
claimed. He blasted the decision of a court in Sulaimaniyah to fine
the Region's flagship independent newspaper, Hawlati, 13 million
dinars (approx $11,220) for having slandered Jalal Talabani.
Nawshirwan said Talabani and his allies are using the
party-controlled courts to financially strangle independent media.
KNN has been warned by a senior KRG official to expect similar
treatment, Nawshirwan said. On politics, Nawshirwan confirmed he
will field an independent list in the upcoming KNA elections, which
he predicted would take place in July.

He pledged that his list would function as a true opposition and
would press the KRG to make its budget public. Nawshirwan called
for many independent observers to come to the Kurdistan Region to
monitor the elections. He asserted that Talabani was shocked by the
provincial-elections drubbing that Abdul Aziz al-Hakim and ISCI
received in the south and, fearing a similar voter backlash, is
"tempted" to rig the KNA elections in Sulaimaniyah. End summary.
End summary.

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Nawshirwan Mustafa Makes an Appearance...
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2. (U) During a March 17 trip to Sulaimaniyah, RRT PD officers
visited the new studios of the Kurdistan Region's first private TV
station, the Kurdistan News Network (KNN),and met with its
director, former Radio Nawa Chief Kurda Hassan. The PDOs were
unexpectedly joined by Nawshirwan Mustafa, the owner of Wisha Media
Group (KNN's parent company). Nawshirwan is a veteran PUK Peshmerga
commander and former PUK Deputy Secretary General who is mounting a
major challenge to Jalal Talabani's leadership of the party and the
KDP/PUK virtual lock on politics in the Region. Clad in his
trademark traditional Kurdish clothing, the wiry 65-year-old
Nawshirwan gave PDOs his unvarnished views on a range of issues.

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...Says He's Proud of KNN's Independence...
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3. (U) As we toured KNN's state-of-the-art studios, newsroom and
editing bays, Nawshirwan emphasized that the station is genuinely
independent. He underscored that he "doesn't care" about the
political affiliation of the station's staff, which includes KDP,
PUK, and KIU members as well as those with no political affiliation.
"What I care about is their professionalism," he said. Nawshirwan
added that KNN is "a serious news channel" that will not air
"singing and dancing," a reference to lengthy traditional Kurdish
music and dance programs that are staples of party-owned stations
such as Kurdistan TV and KurdSat.

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...Claims KNN is New Number One...
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4. (SBU) According to Director Kurda, KNN is finishing its test
broadcast phase and is preparing to go 24/7. The test phase has
featured eight hours of programming, from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m.,
available to the public on the easily accessible NileSat 1 and
Qavailable to the public on the easily accessible NileSat 1 and
Hotbird satellites. In a move intended to make KNN a true
Region-wide station, Kurda explained that viewers can change the KNN
audio channel to Sorani (Erbil/Suly) or Kurmanji (Duhok) Kurdish
dialects. Since beginning its testing, Nawshirwan claimed, KNN has
become the most-watched TV station in the Kurdistan Region, in
addition to drawing significant viewership among the Kurdish
Diaspora in Europe. KNN's popularity, he added, has been noticed by
the KDP and PUK, which he claimed had issued a joint internal
instruction forbidding party officials from appearing on KNN.
Offenders have been threatened with salary cuts, Nawshirwan added.

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...and Blasts the Fine Levied Against Hawlati Newspaper
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5. (SBU) Regarding continued KRG pressure on the independent media,

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Nawshirwan said he was "outraged" by the Sulaimaniyah Misdemeanor
Court's recent decision to fine the Region's flagship independent
newspaper, Hawlati, 13 million dinars for re-printing an article by
an American think-tank writer who depicted Jalal Talabani as
extremely corrupt. Talabani and his allies are simply trying to use
the party-controlled courts to "financially strangle" Hawlati,
Nawshirwan said. He added that a senior KRG official recently
warned him that KNN would be pressured the same way. According to
Nawshirwan and Director Kurda, the official joked that "it will be
free speech for you, and more money for us."

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KNA Elections: Independents' Day?
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6. (SBU) Turning to politics, Nawshirwan asserted he would field an
independent list in the upcoming KNA elections. Repeating what he
has said publicly, Nawshirwan stressed there would be no
reconciliation with Talabani and the PUK Politburo. Nawshirwan said
he is vetting candidates for his list, many of whom are prominent
engineers, doctors, lawyers and teachers. All of his candidates, he
added, will post their CVs on a web site so that "everybody knows"
who they are and what they stand for. Nawshirwan added that he is
building a campaign network throughout the Region and preparing
campaign posters. Asked for his opinion of when the KNA elections
would be held, Nawshirwan said President Barzani would likely
postpone them for two months -- the legal limit. Beyond that,
Nawshirwan said, Barzani's legitimacy as a leader could be publicly
questioned by Baghdad and Washington.

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"We're Going to Win in Suly"...
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7. (SBU) Nawshirwan said that, according to his own polls, his list
will score big in Sulaimaniyah, taking as many as 20 of the KNA's
111 seats. His candidates, he explained, will campaign hard on
providing basic public services. "Why is it," he asked
rhetorically, that "18 years after the Kurdish Uprising, most people
in Sulaimaniyah don't have access to clean drinking water, and have
poor housing and poor healthcare?" Noting that he had recently
returned from visiting villages in the northern part of the
province, Nawshirwan said some dilapidated schools had so many
students that they were reduced to holding classes in rotating
shifts. "Tell me the PUK doesn't have the money to build every
village in Sulaimaniyah a large new school," he scoffed. Nawshirwan
added that his bloc in the new KNA would function as a real
opposition and would demand transparency in the KRG budget process.
"If the KRG won't publicly release the budget, we'll sue it" in
Iraqi Federal Court, he said.

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...If the Elections Are Free and Fair
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8. (SBU) The key issue, Nawshirwan said, is whether the KNA
elections will be as free and fair as the national provincial
council elections in January. The KDP and PUK, he claimed, were
both stunned by the electoral drubbing that voters in the south gave
to Abdul Aziz al-Hakim and ISCI. Fearing a similar voter backlash,
Nawshirwan claimed that Jalal Talabani is "very tempted" to rig the
KNA elections in Suly. The antidote for that, he said, is to have
many independent observers, including foreign diplomats, come to the
Kurdistan Region for the elections. In closing, Nawshirwan warned
that the PUK and KDP would turn up the rhetorical heat in the coming
weeks and would attempt to depict him and his list as "extremists."
"Don't believe a word of it," he said, stating that his list would
work for a negotiated settlement of the disputed territories issue
"instead of using threats of conflict, like Barzani." With a smile,
Q"instead of using threats of conflict, like Barzani." With a smile,
Nawshirwan added that "Talabani, Barham (Salih),and Kosrat (Rasoul)
are panicking. They know that if I win, they're going to lose their
posts."

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Comment
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9. (SBU) We have no way of systematically assessing or verifying
Nawshirwan's claims about KNN's high ratings during its test period.
Anecdotally, however, there is evidence to suggest that KNN is
popular. Local media and NGO contacts, as well as
Sulaimaniyah-based RRT staff, tell us that KNN is now appearing at
the top of satellite TV remote control drop-down menus in bars,
shops and homes throughout the city. We share Nawshirwan's concern
about the huge fine levied against the Hawlati newspaper. While no
paragon of journalistic excellence and quite capable of printing
outright falsehoods to pump up sales, Hawlati is nonetheless a
serious independent paper that frequently reports accurately on
sensitive subjects, including official corruption, which the KDP in
particular would prefer to keep out of the spotlight.


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