This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSUL 000011 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  2/10/2016 
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM IZ PINT
SUBJECT: SHABEK NATIONAL ASSEMBLYMEMBER ASKS FOR MORE "VISIBLE" USG 
PROJECTS IN NINEWA 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Cameron  Munter, PRT Leader, Provincial 
Reconstruction Team Ninewa, State. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1.  (C) PRT Leader and REO Poloff met with Shabek national 
assemblymember Dr. Haneen Al Qado in Mosul on February 8.  Al 
Qado thanked the USG for ongoing assistance but said USG 
development projects in Ninewa need to be "more visible." Al 
Qado said he is working with other members of the national 
assembly to have better local recruitment for Iraqi Security 
Forces (ISF).  He believes a more representative force would 
better respect different ethnicities in the province.  Al Qado 
blames Kurds for ethnic tensions in the area, and said he hopes 
provincial elections set for this year would help bring Sunni 
Arabs to the majority to keep Kurds in check in Ninewa.  Al Qado 
said he is working on building a caucus with other minority 
members of the new national assembly to help move human rights 
issues to the forefront of legislative topics.  He said he is 
planning a minority and human rights conference with help from 
the United Nations set to take place this March.  End Summary. 
 
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USG NEEDS "VISIBLE" PROJECTS IN PROVINCE 
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¶2.  (C) PRT Leader welcomed Al Qado as his first guest to the 
PRT.  Al Qado was quick to thank the USG for its ongoing help 
and assistance to the Iraqi people.  PRT Leader asked for Al 
Qado's assessment of how the USG could do things better.  Al 
Qado said the main problem with projects in Ninewa is that they 
have not been "visible."  As a result, Al Qado said Moslawis are 
"laughing" because there is "nothing to show for the money."  He 
cited several projects, such as Mosul Airport, which has gone 
over budget and is "nowhere near being completed."  He accused 
crooked contractors and a complicit provincial government with 
fleecing money supplied by the American taxpayer.  Al Qado said 
he hopes a committee would be established soon by the USG to 
"look into corruption." 
 
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BUILDING MORE REPRESENTATIVE SECURITY FORCES 
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¶3.  (C) Al Qado said more work needed to be done to make Iraqi 
Security Forces (ISF), especially the Iraqi Army (IA) and police 
(IP), more culturally representative in Ninewa, since the IP is 
predominately Sunni Arab and the IA mostly Kurd.  Al Qado 
believes ISF actually "from Ninewa" would better represent the 
community and act more respectfully towards different 
ethnicities in the province.  Al Qado said he has been working 
with other minority members of the national assembly to pressure 
the Ministry of Interior to institute a program to build more 
representative security forces in Ninewa.  He said he also wrote 
a letter to President Bush about this issue and the Shabek in 
Ninewa. 
 
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KURDS TO BLAME FOR ETHNIC TENSIONS 
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¶4.  (C) Al Qado believes USG presence in Ninewa has kept Kurds 
from "occupying" the province.  He asked PRT Leader to continue 
to pressure the Kurds and "keep them in check."  He said if it 
was not for USG presence the Kurds would have "Kurdified" the 
whole area, similar to past attempts by Saddam Hussein to 
"Arabize" the province.  Al Qado said non-Kurdish people of 
Ninewa, especially Sunni Arabs (whom he believes are the 
"rightful inhabitants of Mosul"), are "pushing back" against the 
Kurds.  He said as a result Kurds are unable to cross the Tigris 
River to the west side of the city for fear of being attacked. 
Al Qado claimed Kurds have recruited from the ranks of Saddam's 
former henchmen in the Baathist regime to, "target and 
intimidate minorities."  He said he is on the top of a "hit 
list" by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), and was informed 
of this by friends in the Shia and Assyrian communities with 
ties to the Kurdish party. 
 
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PROVINCIAL ELECTION PREDICTIONS 
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¶5.  (C) Al Qado said he is confident provincial elections would 
help settle problems with ethnic tensions in Ninewa, especially 
with the Kurds.  He said the election could be held as early as 
May, after the new central government is seated.  Al Qado 
believes a reason for recent problems in the area was the fault 
of the Sunni Arabs for not participating in the January 2005 
election, which allowed minorities and Kurds to dominate 
provincial politics.  Al Qado said this dominance has kept the 
provincial government's interests tied to Kurdish political 
parties to the detriment of the province.  As an example, Al 
Qado cited the Peshmerga who he said arrest and detain people in 
minority villages without "official authority."  Al Qado said he 
hopes if Sunni Arabs dominate the provincial elections they 
might also be able to keep Kurds in check. 
 
¶6.  (C) Regarding the election outcome, Al Qado predicts that of 
the 42 seats in the provincial council only five to six would go 
to the Kurds, six to eight for minority groups, such as the 
Shabek, Chaldo/Assyrians, and Yezidis, and the rest to Sunni 
Arabs.  Al Qado said the Shabek are working with the Yezidi to 
form a coalition, and that the Sunni Arabs are trying to build a 
broad coalition (like the Kurds and Shias) to strengthen their 
ability to win seats. 
 
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WORKING FOR HUMAN RIGHTS 
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¶7.  (C) PRT Leader reiterated the importance of human rights in 
the fledgling democracy, and for all people in the province to 
work together to solve problems in Ninewa, since it is a 
microcosm of Iraq and could be used as a positive example for 
other parts of the country.  Al Qado said he is working 
diligently on the issue and is building a caucus with other 
minority members of the national assembly to move minority 
issues to the forefront of discussions in the new government. 
He said once the caucus is established he and its members would 
work towards writing a bill legislating respect for the rights 
of minorities.  Al Qado said he would attend training on 
federalism this March in Switzerland and Canada, supported by 
non-government organization National Democratic Institute (NDI). 
 He is also planning a minority rights conference with the 
United Nations set to take place in March. 
MUNTER