VZCZCXRO7045
RR RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #4776/01 3640135
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 300135Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8852
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 004776 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/29/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON PINR IZ
SUBJECT: IRAQI KURDISTAN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY SPEAKER ADNAN 
MUFTI CONDEMNS ISG REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS 
 
 
Classified By: RRT Leader James Yellin, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
 This is a Regional Reconstruction Team cable 
 
¶1. (C)  SUMMARY: In a meeting with Regional Coordinator and 
RRT Poloff, the Speaker of the Iraqi Kurdistan National 
Assembly Adnan Mufti criticized the recommendations of the 
Iraq Study Group, alleged that the State Department does not 
take into account Kurdish needs, and said the Kurds have to 
right to independence although it is not presently possible. 
The Regional Coordinator expressed continued U.S. support for 
a united Iraq and for harmony between the regional and 
national constitutions and hydrocarbon laws.  END SUMMARY. 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
THE IRAQ STUDY GROUP AND THE STATE DEPARTMENT 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Regional Coordinator and RRT Poloff met with Adnan 
Mufti (PUK), Speaker of the Iraqi Kurdistan National Assembly 
(KNA) in his office in Erbil on December 19.  Mufti began by 
saying that the expression the &Kurds have no friends but 
the mountains8 should now include &and the Americans.8 
 
¶3. (C) That said, Mufti launched into a monologue on what he 
called the misguided recommendations of the Iraq Study Group 
(ISG).  Mufti said that the members of the ISG were 
delinquent in not visiting the Kurdistan Region, and that the 
ISG recommendations came &from Turkey and Syria8 and would 
complicate Kurdish relations with neighboring countries. 
Additionally, he said the recommendation that the referendum 
on Kirkuk be delayed is unconstitutional.  Regional 
Coordinator replied that the ISG report is unofficial and 
only one source of recommendations for President Bush.  Mufti 
agreed, and noted that Kurdistan Region President Massoud 
Barzani had expressed his concerns about the report to 
President Bush on the phone.  However, Mufti said, the 
Kurdish people are afraid implementation of the 
recommendations would lead to a return to the &old Iraq8 of 
Saddam Hussein. 
 
¶4. (C) Mufti also asserted that the policy of the U.S. 
Department of State is controlled by Turkey and the Arab 
states and does not respond to Kurdish needs.  Regional 
Coordinator replied that he is from the State Department and 
that this assertion is untrue. 
 
---------------------------------- 
CONSTITUTIONS AND HYRDOCARBON LAWS 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (C) Responding to a question by the Regional Coordinator 
on the status of the draft constitution for the Iraqi 
Kurdistan Region, Mufti said that the constitutional 
committee of the KNA has prolonged the public comment period 
until April 1, 2007.  Two to three months after this period 
the KNA will begin to consider the draft constitution, but, 
he said, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has not yet 
decided whether to submit the draft constitution to a popular 
referendum or to a vote by the KNA.  Regional Coordinator 
said the Kurdistan Region constitution should be consistent 
with the national constitution of Iraq.  Mufti agreed. 
 
¶6. (C) Regional Coordinator added that the planned Kurdistan 
hydrocarbon law should be in harmony with the planned 
national law.  Mufti replied that the KRG and federal 
government have agreed on a formula for sharing revenue but 
the subject of contracting and exploitation of new fields is 
still under debate. 
 
--------------------------------- 
NATIONAL RECONCILIATION AND UNITY 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (C) Mufti praised Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki,s 
December 15 proposals to allow more former Baath party 
members to have government jobs and to allow more former 
officers and soldiers to rejoin the army.  Mufti warned, 
however, that members of Saddam,s secret police and senior 
military officers must be kept out of public positions. 
 
¶8. (C) Mufti stated the Kurds have the right to independence 
although it is not presently possible.  He added that the 
Kurds will take a chance on the &new Iraq,8 but if it fails 
to materialize, the Kurds will leave Iraq.  Regional 
Coordinator stressed the need for Iraqi unity and for Kurdish 
aspirations to be achieved through dialogue with Baghdad and 
national reconciliation. 
 
------------------------------ 
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES AND COMMENT 
 
BAGHDAD 00004776  002 OF 002 
 
 
------------------------------ 
¶9. (SBU) Mufti is a member of the Politburo of the PUK. 
Mufti was KRG Deputy Prime Minister before being appointed 
Speaker of the KNA in 2005.  Mufti, from an old and 
influential family in Erbil, has barely survived two attempts 
on his life ) thallium poisoning by Saddam Hussein,s regime 
in 1987, and the PUK Erbil party headquarters bombing in 
February 2004. 
¶10. (C) The KNA remains largely a rubber-stamp for 
legislation proposed by the KRG executive branch headed by 
KRG President Barzani.  Mufti kept the previous KNA out of 
many political decisions during his tenure as Deputy Prime 
Minister, but he now wants to increase the authority of the 
legislature.  The role of the KNA in forming, debating, and 
approving the regional constitution will help determine its 
clout within the KRG. 
¶11. (C) Both PUK and KDP have expressed vehement opposition 
to aspects of the ISG report that they feel dismiss Kurdish 
suffering and national aspirations.  The vehemence of their 
reaction is not fully explained by the substance of the ISG 
recommendations, but also reflects the Kurds, troubled 
history, including chemical attacks by Saddam, and the belief 
that this history is being ignored. 
¶12. (C) In addition, there is widespread sympathy for Kurdish 
independence not only within both the KDP and PUK but also 
within the public at large, although party leaders recognize 
that this is not practical at the present time.  The public 
sympathy for independence creates pressure on KRG leaders to 
show tangible deliverables from continued participation in a 
united Iraq. 
SCOBEY