US embassy cable - 05BAGHDAD3470

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 003470 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/25/2025 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, KDEM, IZ, Sunni Arab, Parliament 
SUBJECT: SUNNI RELIGIOUS LEADER WANTS FEDERALISM AMENDED 
FOR SUNNI ACCEPTANCE OF THE CONSTITUTION 
 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor Robert Ford for reasons 
1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (C) Summary: At an August 24 meeting with PolOff, the 
influential former Sunni Waqf (Endowment) leader, Adnan 
Dulaimi, urged the U.S. to ensure either the removal or the 
watering down of references to federalism in the draft 
constitution.  Otherwise, he said, Sunnis would not support 
the text.  Dulaimi said that the President's August 23 
statement welcoming the new constitution would lead many 
Sunnis to conclude that they have to choose between either 
federalism or violence.  PolOff strongly countered that the 
Sunnis should instead pursue their constitutional 
objectives through peaceful negotiations with other Iraqi 
communities.  End Summary. 
 
2. (C) Dulaimi pressed for U.S. "intervention" to either 
delete all mention of federalism from the draft 
constitution or to make the text sufficiently vague in 
order to postpone a clear definition of the concept. 
According to Dulaimi, "Sunnis hate the word 'federalism' 
because they believe it will separate Iraq."  PolOff told 
Dulaimi that Sunni leaders should discuss their concerns 
directly with the Shi'a and Kurds. 
 
3. (C) Dulaimi said that U.S. expressions of support for 
the new constitution, particularly as expressed by the 
President August 23, had made the climate more difficult 
for talks among Iraq's three communities.  He said the U.S. 
position has led Sunnis to conclude that they had to choose 
between federalism and violence.  PolOff countered that 
Dulaimi should make every effort to press for peaceful 
Sunni dialogue with other communities. 
 
4. (C) Dulaimi argued that opposition to federalism extends 
beyond Sunnis to members of all communities who are 
concerned about Iran's growing influence in southern Iraq. 
He warned that "Iran wants to export the Shia revolution to 
Iraq with clerics ruling the government."  Dulaimi claimed 
that a group of like-minded Iraqis from all communities 
(Shia and Sunni, Arab and Kurd) would hold a conference in 
Baghdad, September 3, in order to call for a rejection of 
"federalism". 
 
5. (C) COMMENT:  Several of our Sunni Arab contacts on 
August 24 noted that the Arab media's spin on the 
President's August 23 remarks concerning the Iraqi 
constitution had made negotiations harder.  The general 
thrust of the President's remarks, as reported in papers 
such as Sharq al-Awsat and the BBC Arabic service, was that 
the President had said that Sunni Arabs should either 
accept the draft constitution or face living with more 
violence.  We are sharing the actual text of the 
President's remarks with Sunni Arab contacts to show the 
media spin here was quite wrong.  Dulaimi's effort to blame 
the U.S. for the Sunni position on the constitution -- and 
even violence -- is self-serving.  However, he has remained 
an influential figure among many Iraqi Sunnis, and we will 
are trying to get him to take a moderate and constructive 
stance.  Getting Sunni Arabs like Dulaimi to support the 
draft will be hard, but would pay benefits in terms of 
broadening support for the political process and 
undercutting Sunni Arab community support for violence. 
 
 
 
Khalilzad