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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 002801 
 
(C O R R E C T E D C O P Y -- PARA 3 CLASSIFICATION) 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/31/2018 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PTER ECON KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: NINEWA:  SHEBAK LEADERS FROM BARTALA TOWN RESIST 
ABSORPTION INTO KRG 
 
BAGHDAD 00002801  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Classified By: Ninewa PRT Leader Alex Laskaris, Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D) 
 
This is a Ninewa Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) message. 
 
¶1. (C) Summary.  Shebak political leaders from Bartala town 
told us that they prefer to remain a part of Ninewa Province 
in an August meeting.  Shebak Democratic Assembly 
representatives said that the short-term security benefits of 
existence under KRG control are not worth the dangers of the 
community becoming a human &buffer zone8 or of being 
treated as second class citizens in a Kurdish political 
entity.  Although they are targeted by Sunni Arab terrorist 
groups, the leaders we met were more focused on the threats 
they face from the KDP, PUK, and Kurdish security forces. 
Local leaders are seeking the deployment of Iraqi police 
units recruited from and to be stationed in Shebak villages. 
They also are seeking solutions to address the widespread 
poverty of their community, particularly among IDPs.  End 
Summary. 
 
Article 140 
----------- 
 
¶2. (C) As part of PRT Ninewa,s ongoing outreach to minority 
communities, PRT Leader met on August 7 with Qosay Abbas, 
provincial chairman of the Shebak Democratic Assembly (SDA). 
Abbas, a member of the Hamdaniya District Council, was joined 
by Shebak Women,s Association director Suriya Qado, sister 
of Council of Representatives (CoR) member Hunnein Qado. 
Abbas claimed that there are 700,000 Shebak in Iraq, 
virtually all resident within Ninewa Province.  He described 
the community as 70 percent Shia and 30 percent Sunni, and 
proudly asserted that the strength of the group,s identity, 
which included a distinct language that is related to Farsi, 
precluded internal sectarian tensions.  (Note:  Absent any 
reliable census data, we pass on claims of population numbers 
and confessional breakdowns as we hear them.  To put the 
claim in perspective, however, a 1974 estimate in the 
American Anthropological Association magazine of the Shabak 
population in northern Iraq was 15,000.  At Iraq's present 
population growth rate (2.61%), that would have resulted in a 
Shabak population in 2008 of 36,000.  End note) 
 
¶3.  (C) Abbas said that the Shebak community strongly opposes 
inclusion in the KRG for two reasons.  First, the Shebak have 
suffered under the strong-arm tactics of the KDP and PUK. 
For instance, Abbas said, after the July assassination of the 
Shebak Mullah Abbas, a PUK spokesman publicly stated that, 
&there are now two to go.8  Abbas said the Kurds are 
instigating the violence because the Shebak want to assert 
themselves as a unique ethnic identity.  Abbas said that 
Kurdish militias pose a greater threat to the Shebak 
community than do Al-Qaeda and other Sunni-inspired groups. 
Second, Abbas said, the Shebak community wants to remain a 
part of Ninewa province because it does not want to become a 
buffer zone in a potential Kurd-Arab conflict.  (Note:  We 
have seen no press reporting the alleged PUK statement and 
cannot vouch for the anecdote's veracity.  Kurds and some -- 
but clearly not all -- Shebak claim that the Shebak are in 
fact Kurdish.  Whether Shebak areas are retained by Ninewa 
Province or join the KRG, they will still lie along the 
Kurd-Arab ethnic fault line.  The Shebak may be fearful, 
however, that expansion of the KRG, especially into disputed 
areas, would create more instability.  End Note.) 
 
Security 
--------- 
 
¶4. (C) Abbas went on to say that the Shebak Democratic 
Assembly lacks the funds to form its own militia to protect 
the community from KDP/PUK intimidation.  Abbas said that 
security for the Shebak must come via Iraqi police units 
recruited from and stationed in the minority communities they 
are meant to protect.  Abbas said that the Shebak had in the 
past submitted a list of potential, non-political police 
recruits to the provincial government.  Unfortunately, Abbas 
said, Kurdish Vice Governor Khasro Goran ultimately prevented 
the Shebak from joining the Iraqi police asserting that the 
Shebak, the majority of whom were Shia, are trying to form a 
branch of the Mehdi Army in Ninewa.  (Comment:  For his part, 
Khasro alleges the SDA is trying to pack the police with its 
party supporters.  End comment.)    Given the obstacles to 
the entry of local Shebak recruits into the Iraqi Police 
force, Abbas said, Shebak participation in the new military 
units being created by PM Maliki is the best option remaining 
to the Shebak community. 
 
¶5. (C) According to Abbas, in 2003 there were 72 Shebak 
villages in Bartala, 67 Shebak settlements in Mosul and 
scattered villages in Tel Kaif and Nimrud.  Since 2003, 
 
BAGHDAD 00002801  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
however, 800 Shebak have been murdered with 2006-2007 being 
the deadliest period.  In response to the high levels of 
violence, almost all the Shebak in Mosul have relocated to 
the relative safety of Bartala sub-district.  As with the 
Christian communities in the area (reftel), we said that we 
support the integration of minority officers into the Iraqi 
Police force and their deployment ) on a non partisan basis 
) to their communities of origin.  Claims of inadequate 
funds notwithstanding, there were armed civilians protecting 
Abbas and the party HQ. 
 
Economy 
------- 
 
¶6. (C) Abbas and Qado raised the dire economic condition of 
their community.  Qado said that the Shebak community lacks 
basic services such as water and electricity.  She also said 
that Shebak farmers have been hard hit due to the ongoing 
drought conditions.  Finally, according to Qado, Shebak IDPs 
are particularly desperate because they have lost their 
traditional livelihoods after relocating and yet have been 
receiving an inadequate amount of rations from the Provincial 
Government.  We said that we share their concern over 
household livelihood security, both in the face of drought 
and in light of the provincial government,s failure to 
deliver essential services.  We said we will raise their 
concerns with the appropriate GOI authorities, as well as 
consider project proposals for assistance to Shebak IDPs. 
 
¶7. (C) We have been in touch with USAID about tapping into 
Congressional funds earmarked for minority communities.  The 
Shebak, along with Christian and Yezidi groups, should 
benefit from our commitment to the welfare of all minority 
groups in Ninewa.  We will work with our 3rd ACR civil 
affairs colleagues to determine whether there are local NGOs 
through which we can channel assistance, or whether direct 
PRT/DoD support would be more efficacious.  For its part, the 
SDA might be a good candidate for the kind of long-term 
capacity building provided by the National Endowment for 
Democracy and its implementing partners. 
 
¶8. (C) Comment:  As is the case with other minorities in 
Ninewa, the Shebak see themselves as, in their words, caught 
between the hammer and the anvil.  Our practical challenge is 
to keep lines of communication open to all sides; our policy 
challenge is to ensure that minorities are beneficiaries ) 
not victims ) of political decisions over which they have 
scant control.  End Comment. 
 
BUTENIS