VZCZCXRO7980
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHMOS
DE RUEHKUK #0083/01 1001350
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P R 101350Z APR 06
FM REO KIRKUK
TO RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD PRIORITY 0565
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0601
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RUEHKUK/REO KIRKUK 0629

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KIRKUK 000083 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
BAGHDAD FOR POL, POLMIL, NCT, ROL COORDINATOR, USAID 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  4/10/2016 
TAGS: PGOV KCOR PHUM PINS PREL PINR KDEM KWMN IZ IR
SY, TU 
SUBJECT: ZEBARI SHAYKH SAYS TRIBES CONTROL SOCIAL AFFAIRS IN NORTHERN 
IRAQ 
 
REF: KIRKUK 75 
 
KIRKUK 00000083  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Scott Dean, Acting Regional Coordinator, REO 
Kirkuk, DoS. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
 
¶1.  (C)  SUMMARY.  The head of the Zebari tribe said he 
supported the Coalition presence in Iraq, but requested that the 
U.S. pay more attention to the tribes.  He explained that while 
the Sunni Arabs of Iraq are demanding a U.S. withdrawal, the 
Kurds fear it.  Zebari said Kurds blamed the U.S. for Iraq's 
continuing problems but the Kurds' deep gratitude to the U.S. 
for freeing them from a brutal regime overrode any negative 
accusations toward the United States.  The Zebari tribe's main 
concern is earning a traditional living in northern Iraq.  He 
said that, although the political parties were more important 
than the tribes in northern Iraq, the tribes could affect social 
change.  The Zebaris and Barzanis conducted a bloody feud during 
the latter half of the 20th century.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  This is the last cable reporting a series of 
interviews with leaders of four influential Kurdish tribes in 
Iraq, including the Harki, Baradusti, Surchi, and Zebari. 
IPAO's on March 12 met with Ridha Zubayr Mahmud Zebari to 
discuss tribal views in northern Iraq. 
 
Requests U.S. to Stay in Iraq, Work With the Tribes 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶3.  (C)  Shaykh Zebari said he supported the Coalition presence 
in Iraq, but requested that the U.S. pay more attention to the 
tribes.  He compared the Iraqi Kurds to birds in a cage - the 
cage being the Kurdistan region of Iraq - and said, if the U.S. 
were to leave Iraq, then predator states like Iran, Syria, and 
Turkey would rattle the cage.  He said all Kurds worried the 
U.S. would pull out of Iraq someday.  Zebari explained that, 
while the Sunni Arabs of Iraq were demanding a U.S. withdrawal, 
the Kurds feared it.  He added that the Kurds also were 
concerned the Coalition might betray them as the western powers 
had in the past, he cited the 1975 Algiers Accord as an example. 
 
 
U.S. Can Solve Everything 
------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (C)  Zebari said the Kurds saw three main problems where 
they faulted the United States.  First, the Kurds believed the 
United States had sufficient military and technological power to 
control terrorism in Iraq, yet it allowed the Iraqi security 
situation to remain chaotic to advance U.S. economic interests. 
Second, when the Iraqi Army and police turned over killers and 
criminals to the Coalition, the Kurdish people believed the 
Coalition often freed them.  And third, many Kurds believed that 
the U.S. easily could solve the fuel crisis if it consulted with 
the Turkish government to remove border checkpoints and other 
obstacles.  Zebari added, however, that the Kurds' deep 
gratitude to the U.S. for freeing them from a brutal regime 
overrode any of those accusations. 
 
Daunted With Maintaining a Rural Livelihood 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  When asked his tribe's main concern, Zebari said it 
was earning a traditional living in northern Iraq.  The top 
industries of the Zebari tribe are agriculture and animal 
husbandry.  He said a farmer's income was too low, and the 
meager wages were affecting the Kurdistan Region.  Zebari said 
fertilizer was too expensive, tractor rentals were too pricey, 
and finished agricultural products were undervalued. 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  Moreover, trading and selling animal meat was 
expensive and difficult to sustain.  Zebari said animal upkeep 
was challenging because the costs of hay, barley and other 
maintenance requirements were increasing.  He added that the 
fuel crisis in northern Iraq was exacerbating northern Iraq's 
already poor economy.  For example, cooking gas had risen from 
1,000 to 20,000 dinars per liter since Operation Iraqi Freedom. 
 
Parties More Important 
---------------------- 
 
¶7.  (C)  Zebari candidly told us that the political parties in 
northern Iraq were more important than the tribes.  "The parties 
own the government and distribute the jobs."  He added that an 
Iraqi Kurd could not obtain a job without paying respect to the 
political parties.  Zebari claimed he received no financial 
support from the political parties. 
 
KIRKUK 00000083  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶8.  (C)  When asked his views on the KRG merger, Zebari said 
that the unification thus far was merely an agreement and that 
no changes had occurred yet on the ground.  He argued that if 
the Coalition were not present, the KDP and PUK would continue 
to fight.  Zebari said he remained optimistic on the merger, but 
saw no way the two administrations could unite their security, 
intelligence, and finance ministries. 
 
But Tribes Affect Social Issues 
------------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU)  Zebari argued that the tribes were important because 
they regulated the social affairs of the Kurdish people.  He 
counseled that the U.S. had to work with the tribes to 
understand the Kurds' social problems.  For example, the tribes 
were responsible for solving family disputes, which if left 
undone could result in violence and crime.  Tribal leaders were 
in charge of determining financial compensation in both 
honorable and dishonorable marriages, as well as handling land 
disputes between animal herders. 
 
Zebari Views: Honor Killings, Mosul, and Services 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶10.  (C)  -- Shaykh Zebari claimed that few honor killings were 
taking place in northern Iraq.  He said that tribes in the past 
forced women into marriage; but now he consulted with his 
daughters and their prospects, and they decided together. 
 
-- Zebari said the Kurds never claimed that Mosul should be part 
of the KRG, like Kirkuk, but argued that Kurdish control of the 
east bank of the Tigris was fair. 
 
-- Zebari complained that several villages in Dahuk did not have 
paved roads and never were rebuilt since Saddam Hussayn's 1988 
Anfal campaign in northern Iraq.  Some villages have neither 
schools nor clinics. 
 
Zebari Tribal History 
--------------------- 
 
¶11.  (SBU)  The Zebari tribe is one of the largest tribes in the 
Badinian area, which consists of parts of Dahuk and Ninawa 
provinces.  Shaykh Zebari leads the entire tribe.  Approximately 
100,000 Zebaris live in more than 400 villages in northern Iraq. 
 While there are no formal branches outside Iraq, Zebari 
families live in Iran and Syria.  The Zebaris have maintained 
close relations with the Doski, Harki, Surchi, Sini, and Rakhan 
tribes in northern Iraq.  They also share close relations with 
Kurdish tribes outside Iraq, including the Shikak tribe - the 
largest Kurdish tribe in Iran - and Binyanshin tribe in Turkey. 
The Zebari tribe consists mostly of Muslims, with some 
Christians.  Zebari said that Kurdish tribes were not 
religiously based; meaning if a Muslim killed a Christian of 
another tribe, the Muslim would be killed as compensation. 
 
¶12.  (SBU)  Zebari's grandfather in 1958 was a member of the 
Iraqi parliament.  Iraqi King Faisal presented Zebari's 
grandfather with the Rafidin First Medal for outstanding 
government service.  The Zebaris for the most part cooperated 
with the Iraqi Government until 1981, when Zebari's father 
opposed Saddam Hussayn's moves to kill Iraqi Kurds, spurring him 
to work against the regime.  Zebari claimed the Ba'thist regime 
killed his father by lethal injection. 
 
¶13.  (SBU)  From 1981 until 1988, the Zebari tribe moved to the 
mountains, joined Peshmerga forces, and fought against the 
defunct regime.  Saddam eventually forcibly migrated the Zebaris 
to Bahraka - a town near Arbil.  The tribe migrated to the Shino 
province of Iran during 1988-90.  Iranian intelligence officials 
at that time approached Zebari, offering him money to work 
against the KDP and PUK; he rejected it.  The Zebaris returned 
to northern Iraq after the Iraqi Kurds gained autonomy in 1991. 
 
Zebari-Barzani Feud 
------------------- 
 
¶14.  (C)  The Barzanis are a clan within the Zebari tribe, yet 
the Barzanis remain independent from the Zebaris.  The Zebaris 
and Barzanis conducted a bloody feud during the latter half of 
the 20th century, with fighting becoming especially intense from 
1960 to 1970.  When Coalition Forces entered Iraq, several 
Zebari families in Arbil fled to Mosul, joining other Zebaris, 
in fear of reprisals from the Barzanis.  Iraqi KDP founder 
Mullah Mustafa killed Zebari tribal Shaykh Mahmud Zebari (Shaykh 
Zebari's uncle).  As a result, Mahmud's son - Arshad Zebari - 
and a portion of the tribe fled to Mosul as a safehaven, 
 
KIRKUK 00000083  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
coalescing with the Iraqi regime.  Saddam in 1991 appointed 
Arshad Zebari as Iraqi Minister of State in an effort to create 
internal problems for the Zebari tribe.  Shaykh Zebari said the 
Coalition following Operation Iraqi Freedom helped to reconcile 
relations between the Zebaris and Barzanis. 
 
Biographic Note 
--------------- 
 
¶15.  (C)  Shaykh Zebari is affiliated with the KDP.  He claimed 
that many Kurdish tribes view the Zebari tribe as an older 
brother because of its reputation as a powerbroker and fair 
representative of all Iraqi tribes.  Zebari said he worked with 
Coalition Forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom, showing us a 
certificate General Abizaid awarded him.  KDP President Masud 
Barzani asked Zebari to use his tribal militia to support 
Coalition Forces when they entered northern Iraq in early 2003. 
Zebari is the brother of Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari 
and the uncle of KRG President Masud Barzani.  Zebari has three 
wives, 10 sons, and 12 daughters.  He does not speak English. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶12.  (C)  Shaykh Zebari seems to have straddled for many years 
the poor relations between the Barzanis and the Zebari branch in 
Mosul.  Shaykh Zebari's blood relations to both groups 
legitimize his intermediary status between them.  The 
Barzani-Zebari conflict appears to have simmered down due to 
Coalition intervention.  Zebari's claim that his tribe does not 
receive financial support from the political parties conflicts 
with what a Surchi Tribal chief a day earlier told IPAO's 
(reftel).  Iraqi tribes' influence is probably slowly declining 
amid the pressures of ethnic politics as well as economic and 
social modernization; but Zebari is probably correct that the 
Kurdish tribes remain well positioned to affect social change in 
northern Iraq. 
ORESTE