VZCZCXRO3969
RR RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #2753/01 2310557
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 190557Z AUG 07
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2852
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 002753 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
UNCLASSIFIED 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PINR SOCI IZ IR
SUBJECT: THE JAFF TRIBE AND THE ROLE OF ITS LEADERSHIP 
 
This is a Regional Reconstruction Team (RRT) Cable. 
 
¶1.  (U) SUMMARY: The largest tribe in Sulaimaniyah Province of Iraqi 
Kurdistan is the Jaff Tribe.  Its members are Kurdish and 95 percent 
Sunni.  Jaff tribe leaders act as arbiters partaking in consultative 
relationships with the local community and government.  The leaders 
are widely integrated in society and exercise their influence as 
professionals, officials in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), 
commanders of the armed forces, and business leaders.  There are 
currently approximately one and half million members in the Jaff 
tribal emirate.  END SUMMARY 
 
------------------------------- 
Background and Tribal Structure 
------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) On May 19 and August 1, IPAO Mergy met with General Ahmed 
Muhammad Gharib, General Commander for Border Guards, Sulaimaniyah 
Province, Iraqi Department of Border Enforcement.  General Gharib is 
one of 54 leaders of the Jaff tribe, the largest tribe in 
Sulaimaniyah.  The Jaff Tribe is considered a tribal emirate. 
 
¶3.  (U) Note:  The Jaff tribal emirate is a union of several tribes, 
clans (a group of families), and sects ruled by the Jaff elite (the 
Begzadas) or emirs.  Tribe members are bonded by a real or imagined 
kinship with the leaders and their descendants.  The last prominent 
ranking Jaff tribe leader was Al-Amir Sardar Beg Jaff, first son of 
Dawood Beg Jaff, who ruled over the Jwanrood clan of the Jaff tribal 
emirate.  Sardar Jaff was an Iranian Kurd, a civil servent trained 
in law, and had collaborated with Mullah Mostafa Barzani and later 
Jalal Talabani.  Sardar Jaff died in 2005.  Contemporary Jaff tribal 
leaders are distinguished individuals of the various emirate units 
who resolve conflicts, provide guidance, and promote the well-being 
of the community.  There is no ranking leader or strict hierarchy 
among current Jaff leaders.  However, some tribe members contest the 
authority of certain leaders because they believe they are working 
for the PUK not for the tribe.  End Note. 
 
¶4.  (U) General Ahmed told IPAO that Jaff tribal emirate members are 
95% Sunni and Kurdish with a small minority of Zoroastrians.  He 
said 60 percent of the one and half million Jaff members live in 
Iran and 40 percent are in Iraq.  In Iraq, they reside in the areas 
of Sulaimaniyah, Diyala and Kirkuk.  The small towns of Kalar and 
Halabja in Sulaimaniyah Province are considered the provincial 
center of the Jaff tribal leaders.  In Iran, the Jaff tribe is 
concentrated in the provinces of Karmansha and Sinna.  Since the 
first half of the Twentieth Century, the Jaff tribe has evolved and 
moved from a nomadic life to a settled existence.  The members 
became more educated and migrated to northern Sulaimaniyah and urban 
areas such as Erbil and Baghdad. 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
Tribal Leaders' Influence and Decision Making 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (U) Jaff tribal leaders, General Ahmed explained, are 
professional, officials in the KRG, members of the two dominant 
political parties -- the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and 
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK)--, and members of the armed 
forces and big business.  For instance, Judge Rizgar who oversaw the 
trial of Saddam Hussein, is a Jaff tribe member.  The General 
explained that Jaff leaders work for the government, not for the 
Jaff tribe.  Although they have informal influence, he continued, 
the leaders do not have a separate communication line to the KRG 
political leadership.  General Ahmed compared the current role of a 
tribal leader to an arbiter engaged in a consultative relationship 
with the local community and government entities. 
 
¶6.  (U) According to General Ahmed, Jaff leaders resolve social 
issues first within the tribe or clan and then approach the local 
government for confirmation.  For instance, the leaders decide on 
the level of compensation for the family of a murder victim. 
General Ahmed affirmed that in the case of a dispute between the 
Jaff leadership decision and the law, the latter would prevail.  He 
also mentioned the need to refer some cases to the KRG "Social 
Office" which is open to all tribes for resolving social and 
criminal problems.  (Note: The "Social Office" is run out of the KRG 
Presidential Office of Massoud Barzani.  The large tribes, including 
the Jaff tribe, have a representative there to present their 
interests.) 
 
¶7.  (U) General Ahmed contrasted decision making in the Kurdish Jaff 
tribe with that in an Arab tribe.  He said that Arab tribal leaders 
are the sole decision makers and operate without a veto mechanism 
whereas Jaff tribal leaders work in a leadership committee to reach 
a decision. 
 
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Other Tribal Traits 
------------------- 
 
 
BAGHDAD 00002753  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶8.  (U) The Jaff tribe members have no restrictions on marriage with 
individuals outside the Jaff tribe as long as the families accept 
the decision.  General Ahmed said the Jaff tribe does not practice 
polygamy. 
 
¶9.  (U) Other activities organized by Jaff tribal leaders include 
sports events, festivals, the Jaff cultural center in Sulaimaniyah 
city, and a magazine publication.  (Note: Some Jaff tribe members 
consider the cultural center a PUK controlled center used to keep in 
check and monitor the Jaff tribe.) 
 
¶10.  (SBU) COMMENT: The Jaff tribe emirate members do not form a 
separate political party but are widely integrated in Iraqi 
Kurdistan and have influence in their roles as professionals, PUK or 
KDP party members, military commanders, and business leaders.  Its 
leaders have roles as arbiters, advisors, modernizers, and 
protectors of a cultural heritage rather than an oppositional force 
in Iraqi Kurdish politics.  As the centralized regional government 
developed, tribes, and especially their leaders, reacted by 
promoting collaboration.  They carved out a mediatory role of the 
traditional community within the government framework and the 
two-party (KDP and PUK) system.