REO REACHES OUT TO LOCAL BLACK COMMUNITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BASRAH 000004

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 1/26/2019
TAGS: PGOV KDEM PHUM IZ
SUBJECT: REO REACHES OUT TO LOCAL BLACK COMMUNITY

REF: 08 BAGHDAD 003929

CLASSIFIED BY: Ramon Negron, Director, Regional Embassy Office
Basrah, Department of State.
REASON: 1.4 (b)


1. (C) Summary: As a follow-up to the REO's December meeting
with ethnically African candidates running in the Provincial
Council (PC) elections, the REO visited an ethnically African
neighborhood in Az Zubayr on January 14. The visit was hosted
by leaders of the Iraqi Freedom Movement (IFM),a political
party established to defend the rights of Iraqis of African
descent. IFM leaders praised the election of President Obama
and spoke of a new era for blacks world-wide. At the same time,
they called attention to their people's plight in Iraq, citing
poor living conditions, high unemployment, and social
inequality. Lacking funding and coordination among the black
community (which is mixed Sunni-Shi'a),the party has been
forced to consolidate its candidates into the Sunni-led National
Dialogue Front as part of the Iraqi National Assembly Project
coalition (149). They are unlikely to win representation on the
council. End Summary.

First-Ever Visit to Az Zubayr
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2. (C) The majority of community members in the exceptionally
poor neighborhood are from the black community, claiming descent
from the Horn of Africa region. IFM leader Talal Jalal Diyaab
Thajeer met REO visitors in the neighborhood's community center
-- a simple room in a dilapidated house. Jalal was joined by
several other locals, including First and Second Deputy Chairmen
Salem Sha'ban Jum'a Salim and Haleem Faraj al-Obadi, and female
IFM candidate Nedaa Abd Al-Hadi Abd Al-Sayyid Sa'ud.


3. (C) According to Jalal, there are about 1.5 million blacks
in Iraq, between 250 and 300,000 of which live in Basra
Province, with a history dating back a thousand years and
tracing their origins to Africa. He praised the REO visit to
his neighborhood, the first of any government official - foreign
or domestic - as a symbol of future prosperity. Jalal praised
the United States and joyfully referred to the recent election
of Barack Obama as a turning point in his people's history.

Socio-Economic Conditions
--------------


4. (C) Jalal described the various difficulties facing blacks
in Iraq, with emphasis on the poor living conditions,
unemployment, and lack of social equality. "Blacks are always
at the bottom of the social scale," he lamented. While
community members did not identify racial discrimination as the
direct cause of their socioeconomic woes, they complained that
they do not have the connections needed to access quality
employment and education - in part because they are culturally
and tribally distinct from their neighbors. Haleem Faraj added
that while the Basra suburb of Az Zubayr was 70 percent black,
there were no blacks in the police force or district council.
He also pointed out that local one-room dwellings averaged 15
residents each. Faraj asserted that jobs could only be obtained
through bribes and that the community needed economic projects
to overcome the unemployment crisis.

Provincial Elections
--------------


5. (C) Regarding provincial elections, Faraj explained that his
people are too poor to compete politically, complaining that his
party has not been able to campaign because it lacks money.
Recognizing these limitations, IFM agreed to fold its candidates
into the National Dialogue Front list. NDF placed the top IFM
candidate, Jalil, third on its list, giving the community at
least some hope of representation. Blacks did not seem
especially optimistic about their chances, however. Most local
observers believe it is unlikely that NDF will win more than one
or two seats on the PC.


6. (C) Faraj noted that his people were scattered throughout
the province, making it difficult to mobilize them. The party's
female candidate, Nedaa, explained that she campaigns via cell
phone contact and personal visits to known black families in the
city. She regretted that she could not expand her campaign
beyond that because of lack of funds and fear that, as a woman,
it would be difficult for her to be accepted campaigning outside
her immediate community. Faraj stressed a need for minority
status recognition for blacks in Iraq and surmised that a
reserved seat on the PC, similar to the Christian seat, could be
a solution.

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


7. (C) A walking tour of the neighborhood revealed appalling

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living conditions with a noticeable lack of basic services,
including clean water and adequate sewer systems. These
conditions are not atypical in Basra, however. Likewise, with a
60 percent jobless rate in the province, complaints of
unemployment are not unique to minority groups, although it
appears that the black community suffers disproportionately
under the government's patronage-based political system.


8. (C) Comment continued: If Faraj's estimates are correct, a
united black community would easily have enough votes to win at
least one seat on the PC. Noting that one IFM leader was Sunni
and the other Shi'a, the IFM's apparent lack of large-scale
popular support could also be due, in addition to race, to other
factors. Many ethnic Africans in Basra could either be too
spread out and unable to organize effectively, or be swayed more
by varying political or religious views rather than by race.
While we are not convinced that it is as large as their leaders
claim, there is definitely a sizeable black community in Basra -
we believe it to be much larger than the Christian minority in
Basra, which enjoys one guaranteed seat on the PC. End comment.
NEGRON