VZCZCXRO3912
OO RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHMOS
DE RUEHKUK #0034/01 0431849
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O R 121849Z FEB 06
FM REO KIRKUK
TO RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD IMMEDIATE 0478
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0515
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RUEHKUK/REO KIRKUK 0542

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KIRKUK 000034 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR DS/IP/NEA, BAGHDAD FOR POL, POLMIL, RSO, NCT 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  2/12/2016 
TAGS: PREL PGOV ASEC IZ
SUBJECT: (U) PUK DEMONSTRATION AT REO KIRKUK 
 
 
KIRKUK 00000034  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: DEAN, Acting Regional Coordinator, REO Kirkuk, US 
Department of State. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY:  On February 12, PRT Kirkuk 
Deputy Team Leader, IPAO and RSO met with Provincial Council 
Chairman and Kirkuk PUK leader Rizgar Ali at the REO.  The 
subject was the February 7 shooting incident in which a REO PSD 
shot and killed a taxi driver and one of his passengers and 
wounded another passenger in the Kurdish neighborhood of 
Rahimawa, Kirkuk.  Later, a peaceful demonstration of about 100 
people that Ali may have organized arrived and PRT staff held a 
joint meeting with a delegation of six of them, including two of 
the victims' relatives, and Rizgar Ali.  The demonstrators 
wanted an apology, compensation and an investigation into the 
incident.  END INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY. 
 
 
(SBU) RIZGAR ALI PLAYING IT UP FOR ALL ITS WORTH 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Rizgar Ali's visit to the REO compound underlined the 
gravity of the situation, as it was only his second time here in 
as many months.  (He has been reluctant to come to the REO.) 
Concerning the incident, Ali said: 
 
-- It is imperative that the relationship between the U.S. and 
the Kurds be maintained.  However, this is the third deadly 
shooting incident involving Coalition forces or personnel in 
Kirkuk in the recent past. 
 
-- This last incident in Rahimawa is very difficult for the 
Kurds of Kirkuk to accept.  Some 2,000 households there lost 
family members in the struggle against Saddam. 
 
-- Most people in Rahimawa are Patriotic Union of Kurdistan 
(PUK) members and the PUK has worked to keep the situation calm. 
 Feelings are still running high in Rahimawa and the families 
are still in the mourning period. 
 
-- The Provincial Council Security Committee will start an 
investigation into this incident. 
 
-- It is not necessary to compensate them just yet.  That can 
wait until later.  It would be better to wait a few days and 
then have a meeting with the families, some Provincial Council 
members and some clerics at which an apology can be given. 
 
-- There are several hundred protestors coming here by bus and 
will be here shortly.  But we have party members on the buses to 
keep them calm.  Most of them are my relatives or people I know. 
 
 
(U) DEMONSTRATORS WANT APOLOGY, COMPENSATION 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) At circa 1100 hours a crowd of about 100-odd men 
bearing banners came to within 100 meters of the outer entrance 
to the REO.  The crowd chanted, "What do you want, Kurdish 
people?  We need our martyrs' blood."  They were peaceful and 
stayed behind the crowd barrier.  A six-person delegation that 
included two relatives of the victims was allowed into the REO 
to meet with PRT Deputy Team Leader, IPAO, RSO and Rizgar Ali. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Rizgar Ali opened the meeting by underlining the 
importance of the U.S.-Kurdish relationship and U.S. sacrifices 
in freeing Iraq from Saddam.  The PRT Deputy Team Leader 
extended his condolences to the families of the victims.  In 
reply, the members of the delegation said: 
 
-- We want an apology for what happened and recommend an open 
investigation of it and compensation, as the victims left needy 
family members. 
 
-- The U.S. should recognize that Rahimawa is a safe 
neighborhood and change its security procedures accordingly so 
as not to repeat this mistake. 
 
-- We ask for fair compensation. 
 
¶5.  (C)  PRT Deputy Team Leader and RSO later met with the 
victims' relatives and the head of the police for the precinct. 
The police captain, an Arab, said the Kurds had politicized the 
issue and were fanning the flames.  By contrast, the families 
seemed amenable to a settlement, though not yet satisfied. 
 
 
(U) COMMENT 
 
KIRKUK 00000034  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
----------- 
 
¶6.  (C) There was a certain amount of theater in today's events. 
 The actual victims were members of the Kurdistan Democratic 
Party (KDP), but lived in a PUK neighborhood.  Each party has 
been trying to elbow past the other to show it is the better 
defender of the people's interests.  The KDP has focused more on 
getting the families maximum compensation.  By contrast, Rizgar 
Ali may have organized the demonstration and his trip to the REO 
to demonstrate he can influence the Americans.  To show the KDP 
as ineffectual, he is trying to draw out the resolution of this 
incident, but without letting anti-American sentiment get out of 
control.  PRT Kirkuk, is working to talk directly to the 
victims' families and to pay compensation as soon as possible. 
DEAN