VZCZCXRO0206
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #2154/01 1811226
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 301226Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1957
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 002154 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/29/2017 
TAGS: PGOV PBTS IZ
SUBJECT: NINEWA: A POSITIVE NOTE ON ARTICLE 140 IN SINJAR 
 
REF: A. (A) 06 BAGHDAD 04017 
     ¶B. (B) BAGHDAD 00559 
 
Classified By: Ninewa PRT Team Leader James Knight: 1.4 (B) and (D) 
 
This is a Ninewa Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) message. 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Team Leader Knight and other PRT members visited 
the Ninewa Province Article 140 Office in 
Sinjar 10 June, to assess current execution of the Iraqi 
Constitution's Article 140 mandate for 
resolution of 'disputed territories' targeted for 
incorporation by the Kurdistan Regional Government 
(KRG).  Business was brisk at the office, but Office Director 
Saeed Jaradu Matto and his legal advisor 
readily interrupted operations to brief PRT staff. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The 'normalization' process foreseen by Article 140 
is proceeding on the basis of the 1957 
Iraqi census.  A mandatory, tightly controlled and 
watermarked form is required of all individuals 
resettled through Saddam's Arabization program seeking to 
return to Sinjar.  The form lists the 
relevant family's 1957 census record and Public Distribution 
System details.  Supporting documents, 
including endorsements from the Ministry of Interior and 
Ministry of Trade offices responsible for these 
records are also required.  (Note:  Iraq's 1957 census is the 
most recent taken before mass resettlements 
under Ba'ath rule began.  End note.) 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Responding to a Team Leader query, the Article 140 
Office Director affirmed that resettlement 
requests are accepted and will be acted upon solely on the 
basis of confirmed residence of 
individuals or their immediate descendants from individuals 
recorded in the 1957 Sinjar census. 
Credible relationship to those individuals is the sole 
criteria for resettlement; neither ethnicity 
nor sectarian affiliation are relevant or considered. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) The Director continued that it is his understanding 
that the census called for (after 
normalization) by Article 140 will also be undertaken by and 
limited to individuals qualified 
by family inclusion in the 1957 census.  He  reiterated that 
this qualification does not entail 
consideration of ethnic or sectarian affiliation; Kurds, 
Arabs, Turcomans, Yezidis, and Christians may 
vote if they are recorded or are direct descendants of 
individuals listed in the 1957 census. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) When asked, the Director and his staff also 
confirmed that Article 140 subcommittees (which 
report to his office) are in place or planned for all Ninewa 
Districts expected to participate in 
Article 140 referenda.  In the Director's view, normalization 
is proceeding well and there is no 
reason that the entire Article 140 process cannot meet its 
current deadline (per text of Article 140 
proper) of 31 December 2007. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) When asked how his office receives guidance on 
pursuit of the Article 140 process, the 
Director indicated its source is the central Article 140 
committee in Baghdad.  However, none of the 
guidance he has received is formal except for the 
resettlement forms and occasional letters; most 
guidance is verbal and delivered at meetings or through 
telephone conversations. 
 
¶7.  (C) Comment:  As pursued in Ninewa, the Article 140 
process is confused and ambiguous.  Authorities 
in the various targeted districts have no common view of the 
process, in general or in detail.  This 
confusion appears to reflect the lack of enabling Council of 
Representatives legislation and a similar 
lack of promulgated regulations and procedures from the 
Baghdad Article 140 committee or other GOI 
authorities.  Provincial Article 140 offices and District and 
Sub-District offices are improvising on 
the basis of individual guesses of how the process is 
supposed to work.  We remain urgently concerned 
that this ambiguity and the consequent opacity of the Article 
140 process -- both for its Kurdish 
proponents and its non-Kurd resisters -- adds to the 
volatility it threatens in Ninewa. 
 
¶8.  (C) Comment continued:  Despite these problems and the 
great risk the Article 140 process poses to 
political stability and security in Ninewa, decoupling 
ethnicity from Article 140's 
normalization, census, and referenda is a refreshing positive 
 
BAGHDAD 00002154  002 OF 002 
 
 
note.  This decoupling does not resolve the 
contentious issues Article 140 presents, but -- if in fact 
now basic to its pursuit -- makes many of 
them more manageable.  In particular, the status as 
minorities of Yezidis and Shabak becomes less 
relevant.  Similarly, participation of all ethnic groups in 
the census and referenda is possible -- at 
least for representatives of those groups with credible ties 
to targeted districts according to the 
1957 census.  Equities of groups and individuals who have 
taken up residence in Sinjar or other targeted 
districts since 1957 -- up to 50 years ago -- remain 
unaddressed.  End comment. 
CROCKER