VZCZCXRO6227
RR RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHAM #2957 3020550
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 280550Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3738
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RUEHRBA/REO BASRAH 0006
RUEHIHL/REO HILLAH 0004
RUEHKUK/REO KIRKUK 0009

UNCLAS AMMAN 002957 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR PRM, NEA/ELA, NEA/I 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL JO IZ
SUBJECT: Iraqis in Jordan Allege Mosul Violence Linked to Kurds, not 
al-Qaeda 
 
REFS: A) Baghdad 3373; B) Baghdad 3365; C Baghdad 3314) 
 
Sensitive but unclassified; please protect accordingly. 
Not for internet distribution or use outside the USG. 
 
¶1.  (SBU) At the request of the Charge of the Apostolic Nunciature 
in Amman, Embassy EconOff Iraq-Watcher and Religious Freedom PolOff 
recently met with a group of Iraqis originally from the Mosul area. 
The delegation of approximately fifteen, consisting of both Sunni 
Muslims and Christians, presented an unsigned letter addressed to 
the U.S. Ambassador to Jordan, expressing their concern over recent 
violence toward Christians in the Mosul area of Iraq (reftels). 
 
¶2. (SBU)  Former Iraqi Ambassador to Jordan, Dr. Saddon Al-Zoubedi, 
the apparent spokesman for the group, disputed statements from the 
Iraqi Ministry of Interior that radical Islamic groups were behind 
the attacks, pointing out that al-Qaeda had denied involvement and 
that the Islamic Army had called publicly for Muslim militants to 
rush to the rescue of Christians, as the Quran dictated.  He opined 
that the two major Kurdish parties were responsible.  Others in the 
delegation noted that the Catholic Archbishop of Mosul had reported 
that his community was being targeted because they refused to 
endorse adding Mosul to a future Kurdish state.  General Ghazi 
Khader Elias, retired advisor at the Iraqi Ministry of Interior, 
said the alleged Kurdish assault on the Christians of Mosul was 
strategically designed to elevate the issue to an international one 
that could then only be resolved by the creation of a self-rule area 
for Christians in Mosul, which would then later become part of a 
hoped-for Kurdish state. 
 
¶3. (SBU)  The letter "demanded" action by the U.S., the Vatican, and 
others, and asked for creation of an international commission to 
study the violence.  A copy of the letter was also provided by the 
group to Embassy Baghdad.  We have no way to determine the 
credibility of their allegations regarding culpability for the 
violence, but it conflicts with other reporting (ref A). 
 
 
Visit Amman's Classified Website at: 
http://www.state.gov.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman/ 
 
 
BEECROFT