US embassy cable - 05ALGIERS1875

C O N F I D E N T I A L ALGIERS 001875 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/30/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, IZ, AG 
SUBJECT: PRESENTATION OF DRAFT IRAQI CONSTITUTION AND 
ALGERIAN REACTION 
 
REF: STATE 158420 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Richard W. Erdman 
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
1. (C) Ambassador, accompanied by Pol/Econ Chief, called on 
FM Bedjaoui August 31 to deliver reftel demarche urging 
strong support for the Iraqi people, the democratic process 
in Iraq, and the October 15 referendum on the draft Iraqi 
constitution.  Ambassador reviewed the talking points in some 
detail, providing the Secretary's statement on the new 
constitution, the fact sheet on highlights of the 
constitution, and the English language text.  Ambassador said 
that as an international jurist, the Foreign Minister would 
find the document of interest.  While the new constitution 
was neither perfect nor final -- any more than the U.S. 
Constitution has been in its initial form -- it was on the 
whole an impressive achievement and the product of wide 
debate, dialogue, and compromise.  It was progressive in its 
protection of individual, women's, and minority rights and 
realistic in seeking to balance religious, democratic, and 
human rights principles. 
 
2. (C) Ambassador stressed that a genuine political process 
was underway and that the Iraqi people should be strongly 
encouraged to continue on this path.  While some Sunnis were 
not happy with aspects of the document, their views were not 
necessarily reflective of all Sunnis.  The important thing 
was that all Iraqis, including all Iraqi Sunnis, would have 
an opportunity on October 15 to express their views 
democratically in the constitutional referendum and that 
political differences should be resolved through the 
political process, not through recourse to violence or 
terror.  We strongly hoped our partners and friends would 
provide this kind of encouragement. 
 
3. Bedjaoui indicated that Algeria wanted to see the 
democratic process in Iraq move forward.  At the same time, 
he noted concerns among Iraqi Sunnis that the natural 
resources were not equally distributed within Iraq, thus 
raising fears among the Sunnis that if the country broke 
apart, they would be left with nothing.  Ambassador said the 
draft constitution made very clear that Iraq's natural 
resources were the property of all Iraqis.  Furthermore, we 
had found that some Sunni negotiators who had been publicly 
critical of the constitution were much more ambivalent in 
private -- a point that seemed to be of special interest to 
the Minister.  Iraqi Sunnis and everyone else would have an 
opportunity to express themselves in the October referendum. 
If there were things they did not like, they needed to work 
within the political process to fix them, just as was the 
case with the many other compromises that had been reached 
during the constitutional drafting process. 
 
4. (C) Bedjaoui, noting the bridge tragedy that had taken the 
lives of hundreds of Iraqis earlier in the day, expressed 
great sympathy for the Iraqi people and their troubles. 
Algeria wanted to see the democratic process move forward in 
Iraq and the terrible daily violence end.  In this context, 
he noted, Sunnis expected to be able to participate fully in 
the political process in Iraq.  Holding the referendum with 
all the Sunnis voting against the constitution would indeed 
be an "extraordinary event."  It would be the first time such 
a situation occurred in Iraq's history, and it would be 
dangerous if Kurds and Shi'a supported the constitution while 
Sunnis did not.  Even if the constitution were approved by a 
"sufficient majority," different perceptions of the rights 
and obligations of Iraqi citizens could cause a split. 
Bedjaoui agreed it was important to convince the Sunnis to go 
forward with this current phase and to revisit certain 
decisions at a later time.  Despite their frustrations, they 
needed to be patient. 
 
ERDMAN