RRT ERBIL: PUK-GORAN VIOLENCE CONTINUES

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 000515

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/I

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/27/2020
TAGS: PGOV PREL KTER KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: RRT ERBIL: PUK-GORAN VIOLENCE CONTINUES

REF: BAGHDAD 0417

Classified By: RRT Erbil Team Leader Andrew Snow for Reasons 1.4 (b) an
d (d).


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


2. (C) Summary: A series of violent incidents beginning
February 16 involving shootings and stabbings between
supporters of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the
Goran (Kurdish for "change") political movement has raised
concern on all sides. The violence had been foreshadowed by
information Goran senior leadership had received from sources
inside the PUK. Party and government officials have come to
see that the parties, use of noisy campaign caravans have
become provocative, especially late in the evening as alcohol
has had an increasing effect. Although each side blames the
other for the incidents, PUK has more resources both to be
able to exacerbate or contain the situation. End summary.

Prelude to Fireworks in Sulaimaniyah
--------------


3. (C) Goran deputy head Muhammad Tofiq contacted RRT on
February 16 to request he meet with Goran chief Nawshirwan
Mustafa. Mustafa indicated that Goran had received
information from multiple sources within the PUK (closet
Goran supporters) about a PUK plan to raise the level of
tension in Sulaimaniyah by threatening Goran supporters. His
sources claim that PUK Finance Bureau head, Daler Said
Majeed, called together a group of low level PUK members,
young and loyal but not known widely as active PUK members,
and offered to provide them vehicles, weapons and money to
stir up trouble. According to the sources, Majeed told the
group that this could include shooting as long as it appeared
to be a random act of violence and would not be pinned on
PUK. Mustafa said he believes that only the U.S. has the
influence to stop this cycle by telling Presidents Talabani
and Barzani that they cannot allow any trouble in the region.
He asked the PRT to send the clear message to PUK that the
U.S. is watching closely to assure the election is "free and
fair."

The Action Begins Later That Night...
--------------


4. (C) Although PUK and Goran versions about what set off
clashes between PUK and Goran supporters the night of
February 16 differ, the following version we deem most
credible. Around 12:30 a.m. shooting began in front of the
Sulaimaniyah Malband (PUK branch office of which First Lady
Hero Talabani has been the director for the last two months).
(Note: The Malband is located on Salim Street, a main
street in Sulaimaniyah where nightly campaign caravans
gather. End note.) Reportedly, Peshraw Ahmed (former head
of KRG PM Dr. Barham Salih,s personal security detail and
currently a Goran member) had exchanged strong words with
Sulaimaniyah Asayish head Hakim Qadir over an earlier
incident involving Ahmed,s brother. A possibly intoxicated
Ahmed and a group of friends later passed in front of the
Malband in vehicles. An argument started with the Asayish,
then escalated into a fight. Either Malband security or the
Asayish opened fire, wounding three Goran supporters.
Malband guards claimed that Ahmed had started shooting first
at the building, so the guards returned fire. Goran
supporters said that Malband security started firing first.
Security officials initially considered the shooting an
assassination attempt of the first lady, as she had been in
the building at the time. The three injured were taken to
Sulaimaniyah Emergency Hospital and nine others were
arrested.


5. (C) At the hospital, Goran leader Awat Sheikh Janab said
Q5. (C) At the hospital, Goran leader Awat Sheikh Janab said
that an Asayish unit arrived to take the injured men away,
but they did not have arrest warrants. Janab called
Sulaimaniyah Province Asayish Director Hakim Qadir asking
that they wait until the men were treated and the judge drew
up arrest warrants. Meanwhile, a Sulaimaniyah police
lieutenant arrived at the hospital to interrogate the men.
While he was doing so a group of as many as 150 fully armed
men arrived in Hummers. (Note: Sources in Sulaimaniyah say
the unit with the Hummers was the Counter-Terrorism Group
(CTG),but KRG Minister of Interior (KMOI) Kareem Sinjari
later told RRT Team Leader that the unit belonged to the
Asayish. End Note.) The police at the hospital tried to stop
the group from taking the injured men, but they were brushed
aside. The team reportedly pulled the most critically
wounded out of a Magnetic Resonance Imaging machine, put bags
on the heads of all three of the injured and took them away.
Of the 12 who were taken into custody, six were released
without charge on February 18, and the remaining six were
released on February 21. Charges of attempted assassination
were downgraded to possession of a weapon without a license
and are reportedly pending for the latter six. KMOI Sinjari
later told Erbil RRT Team Leader that he had complained to
Hakim Qadir about his decision to send the Asayish to the
hospital, saying the matter should have been left to the
police.

Subsequent Clashes
--------------


6. (C) Two nights later shortly after 9:00 p.m. on February
18, anti-riot police rather surprisingly left the flashpoint
Salim Street area, according to an eyewitness who spoke with
RRTstaff. When immediately following this a security detail
bringing high-level PUK officials to the Malband tried to
clear a dense crowd of pedestrians, including by firing into
the air, the crowd started throwing rocks and water bottles
at the guards. The guards reportedly shot in the direction
of the rock throwers, and there was reportedly fire returned
from a nearby building. The next morning there were reports
of still another PUK-Goran confrontation, when Goran
officials and supporters tried to open a new campaign office
in Bakrajo (a suburb of Sulaimaniyah). The road to the new
office runs in front of the Bakrajo PUK Malband, and PUK
guards stopped the Goran convoy. An argument ensued,
reportedly resulting in gunfire by both sides. Each side
blamed the other for starting the shooting, but according to
election security committee member Zana Salih, an
investigation by the committee showed that it was likely that
the PUK guards initiated firing.

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


7. (C) These incidents have significantly raised the level
of concern on all sides. The potential for violence to
spiral upward is real unless all parties exercise restraint.
However, the orders to lower the temperature must come from
the top levels of political party leadership. Emotions are
raw, so unless definitive action is taken quickly and
decisions are communicated to all levels, the risk still
exists that excitable party loyalists may continue to engage
in violence.
HILL