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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 002142 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/06/2024 
TAGS: SOCI SCUL SMIG KERF IZ
SUBJECT: BAGHDAD FAILY KURDS - NOT SO KURD 
 
Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Gary Grappo for reasons 1.4 
 (d). 
 
¶1.  (C)  SUMMARY:  Baghdad's Faily Kurds, a Muslim Kurd 
minority, continue to grapple with issues of identity that 
were exacerbated by Saddam Hussein's repressive policies. 
They appear to have little affinity for Iraqi Kurdistan and 
its leaders.  Rather, they say they support PM Maliki's 
efforts to rid Iraq of militias, insurgents, and corruption 
and plan to vote for him in the upcoming national elections. 
If the estimated numbers of Faily Kurds are accurate, at 2.5 
million in Iraq, in the future they could be an untapped 
voting bloc that has so far been virtually ignored by 
politicians. END SUMMARY. 
 
--------------------- 
WHAT IS A FAILY KURD? 
--------------------- 
 
¶2.  (C)  For the most part Baghdad-based Faily Kurds 
originated from Iraq's northeastern areas near Khanaqin and 
the Mandali district.  In 1975, Saddam forcibly dispersed the 
Kurdish tribes in these areas, stripping them of their land, 
homes and identity documents.  Qaralosh tribal chief Akram 
Sayamir Bik recounted that prior to the dispersal, his tribe 
was comprised of 120 villages totaling 80,000 members.  Those 
who were not expelled to Iran ended up in Beladruz and then 
were re-dispersed to Baghdad, Kufa, Ramadi, Basra, Kirkuk, 
and Mosul.  Sheikh Subhi Haider Qarah recalled that at one 
time he had 55 villages that stretched from Mandali to Wasit. 
 His constituency was scattered as far south as Basra with 
the majority settling in Baghdad. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The typical Faily Kurd history is well described by 
37-year-old housewife Leelwah Farhan al-Khatawi, who recalled 
to PolOff on August 6 several of her story: "My mother told 
me our troubles started soon after my birth when the 
Baathists seized the country.  Many of my aunts and uncles 
were expelled to Iran.  In 1968, many more were sent away.  I 
was 13 when neighbors and teachers started calling me a 
foreigner, a spy, Iranian.  My original "jensiya" was 
confiscated (NOTE: The "jensiya" is equivalent to a birth 
certificate. END NOTE.).  In my new one, my nationality was 
changed from "4A" (indicating Arab nationality) to "13A," 
branding me a Shia-Kurd Iranian. I knew then I would not have 
the chance to gain a higher education and become a teacher. 
If you were Arab, the government would pay 4000 dinars to 
divorce your Shia-Kurd spouse.  Our problem was that we had 
married each other. In 1980, Saddam killed my grandfather. 
He was a wealthy merchant who did no wrong.  For years, 
Saddam's police continued to raid our homes and businesses. 
The night I was taken, they separated us into groups: old men 
to be sent to prison; young men to be shot; young men to be 
sent to prisons in Anbar and never seen again; women and 
children to be sent to prison and those to be forced to 
walked into Iran. We got word that the Anbar prison 
experimented with chemicals. The authoirties drove many women 
and children to a place near the Iraq-Iran border and forced 
them to walk at night through land mines into Iran. Several 
of my cousins were blown up or lost their legs.  I heard that 
some made it to Europe.  They were truly the lucky ones.  For 
those of us that were kept behind, I was considered lucky 
too.  I was released from prison and married one of the few 
male cousins left of my tribe.  He became a Peshmerga, and 
left with his brothers for Kurdistan to fight Saddam. Only my 
husband came back alive. The Kurds have done nothing to 
Qhusband came back alive. The Kurds have done nothing to 
support our plight. We have suffered a lot. 
 
-------------- 
SHIA OR KURD? 
-------------- 
 
¶4.  (C)  Founder of the Faily Kurd non-governmental 
organization (NGO) Shafaq, Ali Faily, told PolOff that he 
established his NGO to raise awareness of Faily culture and 
its distinctive language.  He claimed that the various 
magazines on the Shafaq website receive 4,000 to 11,000 hits 
per month.  Faily confessed that the majority of callers to 
Shafaq's radio show (102 FM Baghdad), which broadcasts for 11 
hours daily, want to discuss everyday trials and tribulations 
and affairs of the heart, but he hopes to expand the show to 
include political debate.  Shafaq's Director Adnan Aziz 
al-Shafy said that Faily Kurd identity and population remains 
a mystery since many Faily Kurds find it convenient to remain 
under the radar and be just "Shia" or just "Kurd."  Shafy was 
confident that once the security situation improved 
significantly in Iraq, more Faily Kurds would feel secure 
enough to self-identify. 
 
------------------ 
 
BAGHDAD 00002142  002 OF 003 
 
 
WHAT DO THEY WANT? 
------------------ 
 
¶5.  (C) Canvassing our Faily Kurd contacts revealed that 
their interests differ by generation.  The sheikhs who were 
farmers lacked education and ended up working menial jobs 
after displacement.  Wearing traditional robes, the sheikhs 
maintain their chieftain status, visit weekly mixed 
diwaniyahs, and are called upon to settle inter-tribal 
disputes. They still demand compensation for lands lost and 
expect both the (non-Faily) Kurds and Shia to help.  In 1981, 
after filing a court case against Saddam, a judge awarded 
Sheikh Subhi compensation of 1-5 dinars per hectare of seized 
land.  Subhi refused the award.  He now awaits another court 
decision based on his 2007 judicial case against the Ministry 
of Finance for land confiscation without compensation.  Subhi 
has appealed to President Talabani, PM Maliki, and former 
Minister of Justice Shibli to weigh in with the court. 
Qaralosh tribal Chief Akram Sayamir Bik wants the GoI to 
reconstruct his 50 villages and provide guaranteed employment 
for any tribesmen wanting to return to Mandali. 
 
¶6.  (C) The children, however, received a higher level of 
education and have found work in many sectors of society 
though lament about the inability to get ahead 
professionally. Born in Mandali in 1947, school principal 
Ibrahim Shafi speaks Arabic, Kurdish, Turkish, Farsi, French, 
and English.  Living in the mixed Baghdad neighborhood of 
Al-Shaab, Shafi and his family assert that they have not 
experienced any type of persecution.  Shafi said that 
security and services are their paramount concerns.  Also 
born in 1947, al-Watan newspaper Editor Salam al-Haidari 
settled in Baghdad, fled to Iran in 1991, but returned to the 
Iraqi capital in 2003 with his Iranian wife and three 
children.  Their main concern is also provision of services. 
Shafi remarked that he and his wife will vote for any 
politician who can "deliver," and they believe that PM Maliki 
is doing a great job.  Forty-four-year-old veterinarian 
Mohamed Salih Aalwan told PolOff on August 1 that he will 
vote for Maliki because he hates the Baathists as much as the 
Faily Kurds, and will guarantee they will never return. 
Aalwan also plans to establish the "List of the City" 
political party to guarantee delivery of services at the 
local level, just like Maliki.  Fifty-two-year-old High Court 
Judge Sadiq Ali Khanah told PolOff that Maliki is responsible 
for cleaning up Sadr City and Basra and that is why "hands 
down" he will vote for the PM's party in the upcoming 
elections. 
 
¶7.  (C) For the most part, the grandchildren of the displaced 
Faily Kurds have surpassed their parents, achievements. 
After graduating from top technical universities, they have 
engaged in business and traveled abroad; some even have 
political aspirations.  On August 3, 29-year-old lawyer 
Muhanad Abdulhadi told PolOff that he is establishing Faily 
Kurd NGOs to fight for education rights.  Born in 1973, 
University of Technology Instructor Jassim Abdulkarim al-Jaff 
announced that he is pursuing his doctorate in computer 
studies, travels to Europe for conferences and wants to run 
for Parliament.  Although Jaff is not satisfied with the 
current government, he does not blame PM Maliki.  He thinks 
that Iraq needs a secular and transparent government with 
laws that allow people to "live their lives." 
Thirty-five-year-old Ali Faily said he preferred a secular 
government ruled by a "benign" dictator as this would ensure 
Qgovernment ruled by a "benign" dictator as this would ensure 
the survival of all minorities.  Businessman Ali Sharwan told 
PolOff that he would run for political office to help adopt 
transparent investment legislation.  All four men believe 
that Maliki will be re-elected PM and that he is the best 
Shia leader that Iraq can muster at this time. 
 
----------------- 
KURDS AND THE KRG 
----------------- 
 
¶8.  (C) Entrenched in Baghdad society, none of our Faily Kurd 
contacts felt strongly connected to the (non-Faily) Kurds, 
Kurdistan, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), or KRG 
leaders.  Even those who became Peshmerga and fought for 
Kurdish rights against Saddam feel abandoned by the KRG. 
Both Ramzi Rahman al-Safrawondi and Leelwah al-Khatawi's 
husband joined the Peshmerga and harbor resentment that the 
Kurds have done nothing to better their plight.  Even though 
Muhannad Abdulhadi credits the Kurds for fighting for their 
rights, he told PolOff that "they simply don't want to help 
us."  Adnan al-Safy, whose NGO is funded by the KRG's NGO 
fund, said he does not care if the KRG loses its bid to 
control Kirkuk.  He declared, "We should be thinking about 
one Iraq, not two sides!"  University instructor Al-Jaff 
believes that there should be no internal border to delineate 
 
BAGHDAD 00002142  003 OF 003 
 
 
the KRG.  High Court Judge Khanah stated on June 15 that 
Kurdish politicians work for the benefit of their parties and 
not their constituency.  "It is their biggest mistake."  Of 
the five Shia-Kurd MPs, only Samia Aziz is a declared Faily 
Kurd who self-identifies as a Shia independent.  She told 
POlOff that the rest of the national politicians were 
appointed by the Kurdish KDP and PUK parties and owe their 
loyalty to their political parties, not to the Faily Kurds. 
 
¶9.  (C) All of our Faily Kurd contacts admitted that they 
rarely if ever travel to Kurdistan, and have no desire to 
spend time in such a "corrupt place."  Prior to KRG 
elections, Al-Jaff hoped that Nawshirwan Mustafa's Change 
list would win big in the KRG elections because he wants all 
of Iraq to clean up corruption and move forward.  He asserted 
that KRG's youth will vote for Nawshirwan only because he 
represents an alternative to the status quo.  Sixty-year-old 
school principal Shafi stated that he does not care if 
Kurdistan becomes an independent state but believes that 
Kurdish independence will indeed happen after "decades."  He 
said, "Defacto independence will come via economic 
prosperity.  What is more important is that with prosperity 
and continued security will come political plurality." 
 
-------- 
COMMENT 
-------- 
 
¶10.  (C) Iraqi Kurds usually have a fierce loyalty to their 
people and the KRG.  Thus it is noteworthy that Baghdad 
Faily Kurds do not readily self-identify and prefer to 
quietly assimilate into broader Iraqi society.  If the 
estimated numbers of Faily Kurds are accurate, at 2.5 million 
in Iraq, in the future they could be an untapped 
voting bloc that has so far been virtually ignored by 
politicians. 
HILL