VZCZCXRO6420
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #2928/01 2441233
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 011233Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3134
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 002928 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PLEASE PASS TO INR/B 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/28/2017 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: RRT ERBIL: PUK POLITBURO MEMBERS ON KIRKUK AND USG 
 
Classified By: Regional Coordinator Jess Baily for reasons 
1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
This is a Regional Reconstruction Team (RRT) Cable. 
 
¶1.  (C) SUMMARY:  Members of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan 
(PUK) are committed to completing the provisions of Article 
140 which addresses the status of the city of Kirkuk.  They 
will not negotiate on changing the 2007 deadline for Article 
140 implementation but hinted that they will allow for an 
extension to keep the process moving forward.  With little 
acknowledgement of the practical matters involved in Article 
140 normalization implementation, they cited funding issues 
and relations with Government of Iraq (GOI) officials as the 
main obstacle.  Harkening back to past history (post 
World-War I, 1975, 1991), PUK politburo members expressed a 
fear of being abandoned by the USG and believe their 
geo-strategic situation makes them vulnerable to attack.  The 
Kurds have an almost psychological need for a permanent US 
military and diplomatic presence in the Kurdistan region. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
ARTICLE 140 IMPLEMENTATION 
 
¶2.  (C) On August 26, RRT Deputy Director and IPAO met with 
PUK politburo members Omer Said Ali and Jalal Jawher Ali at 
the Politburo headquarters in Sulaimaniyah.  (Biographical 
notes below).  Omer Said Ali told RRT Offs: 
 
-- Kirkuk is Kurdish and always been; it must return to the 
Kurdistan Region. 
 
-- Arabs can stay in Kirkuk and live in peace with the Kurds 
but they cannot vote to reclaim the territory. 
 
-- The PUK will not negotiate on extending the formal 
deadline of Article 140 implementation.-- To keep the process 
of Article 140 implementation moving, the PUK would agree to 
carry out Article 140 measures past 2007. 
 
OBSTACLES TO ARTICLE 140 IMPLEMENTATION 
 
¶3.  (C) For the PUK politburo members, money is the cause for 
delay in Article 140 implementation.  The 200,000,000 Iraqi 
dinars (approximately 150,000,000 USD) set aside for 
normalization must be released.  When the money is there, 
measures on property claims and border disputes will go 
forward.  At one point, Jawher upped the ante by saying one 
billion dollars will solve the problem.  (Note: normalization 
involves the return of internally displaced people, 
settlement of property disputes, and adjustment of borders 
changed under Saddam to reduce the number of non-Arabs in the 
province.  End note.) 
 
¶4.  (C) PUK politburo members agreed that working with GOI 
officials is an obstacle to Article 140 implementation.  The 
Sunnis are to blame for the failings of federalism in Iraq, 
they noted.  Said Ali said GOI officials have not taken steps 
to make the Article 140 implementation go easier and curb the 
violence in Kirkuk.  He asked the USG to put pressure on GOI 
leaders to make progress on Article 140 implementation. 
 
¶5.  (C) The politburo members told RRTOffs that Kurdish 
residents of Kirkuk pushed the PUK leadership for Article 140 
implementation.  They added that the PUK is managing the 
Kurds to prevent them from taking action into their own hands 
against the Arabs.  Said Ali warned RRT Offs that the people 
are impatient and want to reclaim the land.  The Turkomen 
community also turned to the PUK for land and food, he 
stated.  The area of Basheer, located outside Kirkuk is 
traditionally home to Turkomen, Said Ali continued, but Arabs 
live there now and have killed Turkomen who wanted to reclaim 
the land.  Jawher told RRT Off later that he wished to speak 
in more detail on the Article 140 process in a separate 
meeting. 
 
PERCEPTION OF USG 
------------------ 
 
¶6.  (C) Omer Said Ali said the Kurdish worry about being 
betrayed by the USG.   Kurdistan is a nation of 25 million 
dispersed over Iran, Turkey, Syria, and Iraq, he noted.  The 
Iraqi Kurdistan region has its own military, natural 
resources, and government but it is fearful of its Arab, 
Turkish and Iranian neighbors and sees itself "living like an 
island." 
 
¶7.  (C) The politburo members stressed to RRT Offs that the 
USA must see the Kurds as its greatest ally in the Middle 
East.  They repeated that it is in the USG interest to 
establish a permanent US presence in Iraq, both politically 
 
BAGHDAD 00002928  002 OF 002 
 
 
and militarily. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶8.  (C) The politburo members displayed singularly 
unrealistic expectation on the practical requirements of 
implementing Article 140.  The money does not address the 
logistical complexities and extended timeline necessary for 
working through the property claims, border issues, the 
census, and compensation matters.  Politically and publicly, 
the PUK will not negotiate the 2007 deadline.  However, their 
statements taken together implied a deeper tacit acceptance 
to let the schedule stretch beyond 2007.  Long standing 
concerns of USG abandonment remain in PUK rhetoric as well as 
a steadfast desire for a permanent USG military and political 
presence in Iraqi Kurdistan. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 
------------------ 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Omer Said Ali is a member of the PUK Executive 
Bureau along with Mala Baxtiar, Head of Democratic 
Organization and Dr. Kamel Fouad, Head of PUK Finance.  Said 
Ali was in Abu Gharib prison in 1977 and obtained amnesty in 
1980, the same year he joined the Peshmerga.  In 1981, he 
suffered a leg injury and sought treatment in Sweden where he 
stayed until 1985.  In 1986, he returned to Sulaimaniyah and 
lived in the mountains with the Peshmerga and made occasional 
visits to Sweden for medical treatment.  He is known to be 
anti-materialistic and maintains a simple lifestyle, 
foregoing comfortable homes and vehicles which his position 
provides for. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Jawal Jawher is from Kirkuk and joined the 
Peshmerga in 1991.  From 1991 to 1996 he was a PUK 
organization member.  In 1997, he became Governor of Kirkuk, 
based in Darbandihkan, Sulaimaniyah Province (Kirkuk being 
under the control of Saddam at the time.)  In 1998, he became 
Minister of Municipality, Sulaimaniyah.  From 2000-2003 he 
was Minister of Industry (PUK, Sulaimaniyah).  In 2001, 
Jawher became a member of the PUK politburo.  Since 2003, 
Jawher is responsible for Kirkuk affairs for the PUK.  In 
Kirkuk, he created a bureau to deal with internally displaced 
persons.  Jawher is currently responsible for the politburo's 
office for Observation and Investigations. 
CROCKER