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RR RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #2332/01 1951451
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
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FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2212
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 002332 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/13/2017 
TAGS: PGO PINR IZ
SUBJECT: HERO TALABANI ON SOCIAL ISSUES IN IRAQI KURDISTAN 
 
Classified By: Classified by Acting RRT Leader Anne Patterson for reaso 
ns 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
This is a Regional Reconstruction Team (RRT) Cable. 
 
¶1.  (C) SUMMARY: Hero Talabani, wife of Jalal Talabani, the 
President of Iraq and leader of the Patriotic Union of 
Kurdistan (PUK), runs a TV station in Iraqi Kurdistan, edits 
newspapers and leads charities.  Her main concerns are the 
negative trends generated in Iran that impact Iraqi Kurdistan 
society, the rights of children and women, the need to 
increase skilled labor, and openness in the media.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) On July 2, RRT Off met with Hero Talabani (nee Hero 
Ibrahim Ahmed) at her residence in Sulaimaniyah Province. 
She runs KurdSat, a TV station in Iraqi Kurdistan, edits 
numerous publications and leads charities such as Kurdistan 
Save the Children. 
 
---- 
IRAN 
---- 
 
¶3.  (C) Hero Talabani told RRTOff that Iran is a source of 
instability for Iraq.  She pointed to the trend of importing 
glue and illicit drugs from Iran that street children in 
Baghdad consume.  The availability of hashish and heroin has 
stimulated trade in these substances, she added.  Drugs were 
usually transited through Iraq, she said, but recently Iraqis 
are drug consumers.  Although the Asayish (Iraqi Kurdistan 
intelligence service) is effective at arresting the 
perpetrators, the trend from Iran continues, she noted.  Mrs. 
Talabani suggested an awareness campaign be launched to 
educate the rural areas of Iraqi Kurdistan on the dangers of 
drug use. 
 
----------------- 
SAVE THE CHILDREN 
----------------- 
 
¶4.  (C) Mrs. Talabani is particularly active in the 
organization Kurdistan Save the Children (KSC), which has 
offices in Sulaimaniyah province and Baghdad.  She announced 
that KSC offices will soon open in Dohuk and Erbil and will 
receive financing from the Kurdistan Regional Government 
(KRG).  When questioned if KSC coordinates with Islamic 
charitable organizations on children's issues, she said that 
KSC used to work with them but broke off relations in an 
effort to offer assistance without regard to religious 
affiliation.  Mrs. Talabani said the Islamic associations 
require young girls to wear headscarves and are trying to 
influence the children with a particular religious tradition. 
 She emphasized children should be free from having a 
religion imposed on them. 
 
-------------------- 
YOUTH AND EMPLOYMENT 
-------------------- 
 
¶5.  (C) The youth lack a solid education and employment 
opportunities, Mrs. Talabani explained.  The curriculum in 
higher education is out of date and not rich in foreign 
sources, she said.  The teaching staff is limited in its 
world view and has not adequately prepared the youth of 
Sulaimaniyah for the modern labor market. 
 
¶6.  (C) Once an agricultural-based economy, Hero Talabani 
highlighted the problem of the youth in rural areas who once 
entered into the agricultural sector.  Present-day farmers 
have few skills or modern machinery and farming does not 
attract the new generation.  Mrs. Talabani stated that the 
youth today prefer jobs in the police force in urban centers. 
 
 
¶7.  (C) Mrs. Talabani stated urbanization, along with the 
Oil-for-Food program of the United Nations, has impoverished 
the rural areas of Iraqi Kurdistan and left the agricultural 
sector dependent on imports.  The Iraqi Kurdistan provinces 
no longer produce sugar and basic foodstuffs because these 
local markets phased out their operations since the UN 
provided these products, she said.  Oil-for-Food also had 
cultural consequences: residents lost their ability to 
cultivate local seeds and select what they need at the market 
and adjust their diet and budget to seasonal varieties. 
(Note:  The Ba'athist destruction of rural villages is also 
cited as a cause of agricultural deterioration in the region. 
 End note.) 
 
¶8.  (C) In addition to the agricultural sector, Hero Talabani 
stressed the need to absorb the youth in urban centers by 
increasing their opportunities to become skilled laborers in 
fields such as engineering and construction.  The problem is 
 
BAGHDAD 00002332  002 OF 002 
 
 
training the youth, Mrs. Talabani added, and the vocational 
school set up in Erbil by the Korean Coalition Forces is an 
excellent model.  Unfortunately, the KRG, did not agree to a 
Korean presence in Sulaimaniyah Province. 
 
----------------- 
POLITICAL OUTLOOK 
----------------- 
 
¶9.  (C) When questioned on her outlook for the future of 
Iraqi politics, Hero Talabani said she was optimistic.  She 
stated that the greatest fear Kurds have is a weak central 
government.  (Note: the Kurds in Baghdad act uninterested in 
a strong central government, preferring to negotiate for more 
regional powers in the Iraqi Constitution and laws like 
hydrocarbons.  End Note).  As far as any political role she 
may exercise, she mentioned that often PUK leaders, including 
reformists, confide in her and see her opinion.  She said 
they listen to her even if she is quick to point out issues 
and practices of corruption of local officials.  She noted 
that officials fear being the brunt of political satirical 
humor in one of her publications "Sekhuma" ("jab"). 
 
¶10.  COMMENT (C) Hero Talabani's years in the mountains and 
Peshmerga service earned her the respect of the people and 
within the old guard of the PUK.  She is also seen as a 
regional philanthropist ) assisting local artists, 
renovating buildings, and overseeing community projects.  Her 
esteemed place in society also stems from her documentaries 
on mountain life and her advocacy work for women's and 
children's rights.  Hero Talabani, like her famous father, 
Ibrahim Ahmed (1914-2000), is perceived as a defender of 
Kurdish history and identity. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 
------------------ 
 
¶11.  (C) Hero Talabani was born into an 
intellectual-political family.  Her mother was from Zakho, 
Dohuk Province and her father, Ibrahim Ahmed is from 
Sulaimaniyah.  Ibrahim Ahmed was an Iraqi-Kurdish poet, 
political essayist and author.  He was one of the founders 
and Secretary-General of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) 
from 1947-58.  Some sources claim Ibrahim Ahmed coined the 
term "Peshmerga" in the 1940s.  Hero Talabani spent a part of 
her childhood in the Kurdish mountains with her father who 
lived there in exile in the 1960s.  When the KDP split in 
1964, Ibrahim Ahmed along with his protege Jalal Talabani 
broke away from Mustafa Barzani, now President of Iraqi 
Kurdistan.  Jalal Talabani founded the PUK in 1975. 
 
¶12.  (C) Hero Talabani returned to the mountains and became a 
Peshmerga in the late 1970s.  In the 1980s she started 
filming the everyday lives of Kurdish villagers under daily 
bombardment by Saddam.  She is known for her film footage 
documenting the 1986-87 Anfal campaign - chemical attacks, 
ordered by Saddam in the Kurdish north. 
CROCKER