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OO RUEHBC RUEHIHL RUEHKUK RUEHMOS
DE RUEHKUK #0073/01 0900749
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O R 310749Z MAR 06
FM REO KIRKUK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0583
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD IMMEDIATE 0547
RUEHMOS/REO MOSUL 0200
RUEHIHL/REO HILLAH 0152
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INFO RUEHKUK/REO KIRKUK 0611

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KIRKUK 000073 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
BAGHDAD FOR POL, ORA, POLMIL, NCT, ECON, ROL COORDINATOR 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  3/31/2016 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM PINS PHUM MCAP KCOR IZ
SUBJECT: KRG UNIFICATION: PLOTTING A PATH 
 
REF: (A) KIRKUK 57, (B) KIRKUK 39 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Scott Dean, Acting Regional Coordinator, , REO 
Kirkuk, DoS. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
 
¶1.  (C)  SUMMARY.  KRG PM Barzani told RC(A) March 29 that that 
each of the dual Erbil and Sulaymaniyah KRG ministries would 
form a committee to consider who should get the top jobs in the 
unified ministry and to find new jobs for  redundant incumbents. 
 No one would suffer a pay cut.  The PUK has agreed to the KDP's 
method for choosing deputy ministers; Barzani said the KDP 
wanted technocrats.  He and KRG Deputy PM-elect Omar Fattah 
(PUK) would have the final say on nominations.  Matching 
ministries would also form committees to iron out 
statutory/regulatory differences between them.  Barzani said 
they would remove unqualified (read PUK) political appointees 
from the bench.  Barzani said merging the two Asayish would 
prove more difficult than merging the Peshmerga.  He would 
reduce the number of Peshmerga.  They would retire or transfer 
some Asayish, but keep them on the government's payroll. 
Despite the public deadline, he did not expect the two KRG's to 
finish a joint capital budget by the end of 2006.  END SUMMARY. 
 
 
KURDISTAN REGIONAL GOVERNMENT CABINET FORMATION 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶2.  (C)  Cabinet Formation.  KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan 
Barzani told RC(A) March 29 that the Kurdistan Democratic Party, 
the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the smaller parties they 
selected for the new, unified KRG Cabinet would meet March 30 to 
plot a roadmap for creating a cabinet.  (Barzani has since 
announced publicly they hope to form a cabinet by mid April.) 
PM Barzani predicted to RC(A) that each of the dual ministries 
(e.g., Erbil KRG Education Ministry and its Sulaymaniyah KRG 
counterpart) would form a committee of the two ministers, deputy 
ministers and top staffs down to the Chiefs of Staff to consider 
who should get the top jobs in the unified ministry and to find 
new jobs for redundant incumbents.  Whether officials such as 
Directors General were retired or moved to a different 
appointment, no one would suffer a pay cut (see ref A). 
 
¶3.  (C)  Barzani said they wanted technocrat deputy ministers. 
Parties would each would submit 3-4 nominations and the 
committee would select the best candidate.  (NOTE:  As reported 
ref A, the PUK had resisted this method because it could allow 
the KDP to choose PUK nominees from different PUK factions, 
while the KDP is more united.  END NOTE.)  Barzani said that 
Iraqi President Talabani had pledged PUK's "full support" for 
this method. 
 
¶4.  (C)  Barzani said both the KDP and PUK could veto committee 
nominees.  The March 30 meeting would set deadlines for party 
nominations.  He and KRG Deputy PM-elect Omar Fattah (PUK) would 
have the final say on nominations. 
 
 
MERGING MINISTRIES 
------------------ 
 
¶5.  (C)  Justice Ministries.  Barzani said matching ministries 
would also form committees to iron out statutory/regulatory 
differences between the two KRG's over KRG-Sulaymaniyah 
regulations predating the Kurdistan National Assembly.  The two 
KRG's felt so strongly about this that they had already worked 
on two such bills: the foreign investment law and the 
anti-terrorism law.  Barzani said the KRG-S Justice Minister had 
admitted that some of his judges were not qualified.  Barzani 
said they would remove these political appointees to improve the 
judiciary.  This was why the KDP and PUK had agreed it would 
take longer to merge the justice ministries.  (COMMENT:  Some 
smaller parties have complained about the anti-terrorism bill. 
The KRG-E requires 10 years of legal experience for appointment 
to the bench; the KRG-S requires 8-9.  The KDP's stance may be 
more a matter of forcing out PUK appointees.  Judges must bow to 
political pressures in both KRG judicial systems, no matter how 
technically well qualified.  Ref C.  END COMMENT.) 
 
¶6.  (C)  Asayish.  Barzani said the two Asayish (internal 
security forces) would be the most difficult forces to merge. 
The KRG planned to create initially a new 500-man force under a 
unified command and then expand it.  He said merging the two 
Peshmerga (regional defense forces) was easier since they stayed 
in units, were used to following orders from a central point, 
and could be retired to the "Forest Peshmerga."  (NOTE:  His own 
minister told RC(A) less than 3 hours earlier (septel) that 
 
KIRKUK 00000073  002 OF 002 
 
 
there were no plans to merge Peshmerga.  END NOTE.)  Barzani 
said they would reduce the number of Peshmerga.  They would 
retire Asayish with good salaries or transfer them to public 
service ministries.  Because they had no prospects for private 
sector work, most Asayish wanted to stay on the government's 
payroll. 
 
¶7.  (C)  Finance.  Barzani said merging the finance ministries 
faced two major hurdles: equalizing government salaries and 
creating a joint capital budget.  Despite the public deadline, 
he did not expect them to finish a joint capital budget even by 
the 2006 fiscal/calendar year. 
ORESTE