VZCZCXRO7928
RR RUEHBC RUEHIHL RUEHKUK RUEHMOS
DE RUEHKUK #0021/01 0311951
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 311951Z JAN 06
FM REO KIRKUK
TO RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD 0463
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0499
INFO RUEHMOS/REO MOSUL 0190
RUEHIHL/REO HILLAH 0142
RUEHBC/REO BASRAH 0185
RUEHKUK/REO KIRKUK 0525

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KIRKUK 000021 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
BAGHDAD FOR POL, POLMIL, NCT 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  1/31/2016 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM KISL PREL IZ
SUBJECT: (SBU) KURDISTAN ISLAMIC UNION TALKS THE TALK 
 
REF: 05 KIRKUK 272 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: RBELL, PRC, PRC, DOS. 
REASON: 1.4 (d) 
 
¶1.  (SBU) INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY:  On January 29, RC, DRC and 
IPAO met Abdulrahman Siddiq Karim, the smooth-talking head of 
public affairs for the Kurdistan Islamic Union.  Abdulrahman was 
upbeat on the KRG investigation into the Dahuk incidents in 
which several KIU members were killed, including the top 
candidate on its parliamentary list for Dahuk (reftel).  The KIU 
thinks it deserves three ministries in the unified KRG.  Karim 
compared the KIU to European Christian Democratic conservative 
parties and insisted it was committed to democracy and the 
rights of women.  Abdulrahman's protestations to the contrary, 
the experience of a secular Kurd contact of this office raises 
doubts as to the KIU's commitment to democracy.  END 
INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY. 
 
(SBU) KIU:  WE BELIEVE IN DEMOCRACY, WOMEN'S RIGHTS 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶2.  (C) Abdulrahman Karim said: 
 
-- The commission that KRG President Barzani mandated has begun 
its investigation into the Dahuk attacks, where Karim said six 
buildings were burned.  The commission, which includes a KIU 
member, has visited the site and interviewed survivors.  The 
KRG-E PM has already promised compensation for the 24 cars 
destroyed.  (Comment:  Abdulrahman did not play the outraged 
victim; he implied that both sides had been at fault.  He went 
to great lengths to portray the KIU as completely non-violent, 
stressing that it had never had a militia or armed wing.  End 
Comment.) 
 
-- The KIU should get a share of the ministries in the unified 
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in proportion to its share 
of Kurdistan National Assembly (KNA) seats, i.e., their nine KNA 
seats should give them three ministers, since the Kurdistan 
Islamic Group was getting a ministry on the strength of 6 KNA 
seats and Communists were getting a ministry with two KNA seats. 
 
 
-- A KIU delegation is in Baghdad negotiating for a role in the 
national government, on the basis of the five seats in the 
Council of Representatives that it won in the December elections. 
 
-- The KIU's motto is "freedom, brotherhood and justice." 
Comparing it to the Christian Democratic parties of Europe, he 
said the KIU is an Islamic democratic party.  Although the KIU 
began as an offshoot of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, its 
beliefs have changed from pan-Islamism to Islam in each state 
(or in this case, Iraqi Kurdistan).  Also, armed jihad is 
reserved only for governments to prosecute, not individuals. 
 
-- The KIU is committed to democracy and the rights of women. 
We will leave it to God to punish individuals for violations of 
divine law, such as women who refuse to wear the hijab.  Women 
can visit our office without wearing it.  People should not 
doubt our commitment to the rule of law.  Some day we may take 
"Islamic" out of our name.  My preference would be to call 
ourselves the "Kurdistan Constitutional Party" to emphasize this 
commitment. 
 
-- People fear us because they associate us unfairly with al 
Qaeda and "holy war."  This hurts us, as the people seek to 
avoid both secular and Islamic extremism. 
 
 
(SBU) SECULAR KURD ON KIU:  DON'T BELIEVE THEM 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶3.  (C) A contrasting view of the KIU was given by a close 
Kurdish contact of the REO who said: 
 
-- After his brother died, he assisted in taking care of his 
sister-in-law and her children. 
 
-- His sister-in-law approached the local KIU office to take 
advantage of the KIU's offer of aid to the poor. 
 
-- The KIU agreed to help her and her children but the women of 
the household had to start wearing the hijab and the children 
had to attend daily classes at the local KIU mosque in return 
for the assistance. 
 
-- When he found out about this, our contact was furious and 
told his sister-in-law that if she did not cut ties with the 
KIU, he would throw her out of the house.  His threat was 
 
KIRKUK 00000021  002 OF 002 
 
 
successful and that was the end of her affiliation with the KIU. 
 
(U) COMMENT 
----------- 
 
¶4.  (C) The KIU is the leading opposition party in the Kurdish 
Region.  It gets much of its support from voters fed up with the 
two main parties' failure to curb corruption, democratize and 
become more responsive to their constituents' wishes.  Although 
Karim made the right noises, we had the impression he was 
protesting too much. 
 
¶5.  (U)  Bio Note:  Abdulrahman Siddiq Karim speaks and 
understands a good amount of English.  He said he was the Iraqi 
Minister of Environment under the CPA. 
BELL