US embassy cable - 03KUWAIT2299

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KUWAIT 002299 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE ALSO PASS USAID/W 
STATE PLEASE REPEAT TO IO COLLECTIVE 
STATE FOR PRM/ANE, EUR/SE, NEA/NGA, IO AND SA/PAB 
NSC FOR EABRAMS, SMCCORMICK, STAHIR-KHELI, JDWORKEN 
USAID FOR USAID/A, DCHA/AA, DCHA/RMT, DCHA/FFP 
USAID FOR DCHA/OTI, DCHA/DG, ANE/AA 
USAID FOR DCHA/OFDA:WGARVELINK, BMCCONNELL, KFARNSWORTH USAID FOR 
ANE/AA:WCHAMBERLIN 
ROME FOR FODAG 
GENEVA FOR RMA AND NKYLOH 
ANKARA FOR AMB WRPEARSON, ECON AJSIROTIC AND DART 
AMMAN FOR USAID AND DART 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: EAID, PREF, IZ, WFP 
SUBJECT:  DART NORTHERN IRAQ UPDATE 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  DART Field Team North reports that there have been several 
violent incidents in Kirkuk with reports of several deaths.  More 
Kurds are returning to villages in the Makhmur region, and there 
is little public infrastructure to support major influxes of 
returnees.  WFP will begin receiving 136,000 MT of bulk wheat, in 
5,000 MT increments, from stocks in Syria.  WFP has requested MOT 
assistance in locating storage space for the wheat.  End Summary 
 
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SECURITY 
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2.  Two non-governmental organization (NGO) vehicles were 
attacked on the Kirkuk to Baghdad road on 15 May.  In an apparent 
act of banditry, shots were fired at one of the vehicles.  The 
vehicle sustained damage, but no one was hurt. 
 
3.  Between 16 and 18 May, fighting between Arabs and Kurds took 
place in Kirkuk.  The reasons are still unclear, but some suggest 
that Ba'ath loyalists attacked Kurds.  Several people were 
injured or killed.  An incident over land issues in the Sinjara 
area west of Mosul left one Arab dead.  Coalition forces arrested 
the suspects. 
 
4.  Many Kurds who were forced out of their homes in past years 
by the former regime are now trying to return to Kirkuk city. 
Kirkuk epitomizes the ethnic mix and potential for conflict in 
Iraq and how the return issue is addressed could have profound 
effects on inter-ethnic relations in the region. 
 
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RURAL WATER SECTOR MEETING 
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5.  The Minister of Reconstruction and Development (MORAD) in 
Arbil hosted a rural water sector meeting on 18 May.  In an 
attempt to solicit assistance from the NGO and international 
organization communities, the Ministry presented its 2003 plan to 
implement 103 renovation projects and 112 new projects.  These 
projects do not include proposed activities in the "newly 
liberated" areas of southern Arbil Governorate. 
 
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DART VISIT TO MAKHMUR REGION 
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6.  On 19 May, DART Field Team North visited villages in southern 
Arbil governorate.  The DART met with local villagers, newly 
arrived returnees, and Coalition representatives responsible for 
operations in the region. 
 
7.  More Kurds are returning to villages in the region, and there 
is little public infrastructure to support major influxes of 
returnees.  Water supply appears to be an issue, although in the 
villages visited there were hand-dug wells that could be easily 
cleaned to provide accessible water. 
8.  Ethnic tensions are escalating in villages near the old 
"green line".  Historically these villages had a mix of Kurds and 
Arabs.  In the village of Shamamak, the DART met with Arabs who 
said that on 17 May a local Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) 
peshmerga commander from Gwer (who is actually from Shamamak) had 
come to them with four armed men and told them they must leave 
the village.  The Arabs fear that without Coalition intervention 
in the next few days, they would have to move to Mosul. 
 
9.  The DART visited Coalition forces in Makhmur to discuss this 
incident.  A Coalition source said the incident would be followed 
up on.  He also said that this sort of incident was becoming 
increasingly common. 
 
10.  At Grd Graw, near the border with Ninawa governorate, 
Kurdish returnees informed the DART that water supplies, usually 
piped from Haji Ali in Ninawa, had been disrupted.  They blamed 
remaining Ba'athists in that area for their lack of water.  The 
DART has not confirmed whether there is indeed something sinister 
causing the disruption of water supplies, or if there is a simple 
mechanical problem.  The DART will follow up on this with 
Coalition authorities in Makhmur. 
 
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FOOD AND AGRICULTURE 
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11.  The DART and a U.N. World Food Program (WFP) representative 
met on 18 May with the manager of the Ninawa Grain Board in 
Mosul.  The meeting was held to explain that WFP was going to 
begin receiving 136,000 metric tons (MT) of bulk wheat, in 5,000 
MT increments, from stocks in Syria, and to request Ministry of 
Trade (MOT) assistance in locating storage space for the wheat. 
The manager assured WFP that he would meet with regional silo 
managers to ensure space.  Storage space in Mosul is limited, but 
regional silos are available to store some of the stock. 
On a 19 May visit to Makhmur, the DART met a Kurd and two Arabs 
who were surveying fields of wheat and barley.  They explained 
that the Kurd, a doctor now practicing in Arbil, owned 
approximately 1,000 dunam (1 dunam equals 2500 square feet) near 
the village of Nogharan, and that the Arabs had each rented 120 
dunam from another Arab who had been given the land sometime in 
the 1990s.  The doctor and the two Arabs were in the process of 
agreeing how to split the harvest, this in accordance with a 
recent edict from Mosul, Arbil, Makhmur, and Coalition 
authorities.  The doctor was not pleased with the situation, 
though he was relieved to be back on his land.  However, he was 
committed to following the agreement to the letter.  The Arabs, 
from Mosul, seemed happy to be receiving anything.  All in all, 
the split appeared to be a good, short-term solution to bring the 
harvest in successfully. 
 
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DART-FUNDED NGO ACTIVITIES IN NORTHERN IRAQ 
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12.  The International Rescue Committee (IRC) met with the DART 
on 20 May and presented a concept paper for activities in 
northern Iraq.  IRC staff then traveled to Baghdad to meet with 
colleagues from southern Iraq to finalize implementation plans 
that will be submitted in the coming days.  Possible activities 
include waste collection, sewer network cleansing, and water 
treatment plant repairs in the Kirkuk area. 
 
13.  The International Medical Corps is re-equipping and 
renovating four health centers in Kirkuk that were looted 
following the war. 
 
14.  Mercy Corps International (MCI) is providing short-term 
assistance to the Directorate of Water and Sewerage in Kirkuk. 
MCI will assist the Directorate with transportation for staff and 
testing equipment.  MCI is also providing short-term emergency 
assistance to the water treatment plant in Khaniqeen, Diyala 
governorate, and they are also providing two emergency Health 
Kits to health facilities in Tekef and Ain Sifni, near Mosul. 
 
15.  Save the Children (SCF) has several active projects in 
Mosul.  They are providing transportation for health workers to 
and from hospitals and primary health care centers; gasoline, 
cooking gas, cleaning supplies and emergency repairs for Al 
Khansa and Al Atheer hospitals; and supplies for supplementary 
feeding programs at those two hospitals. 
 
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IDPS AND LAND TENURE 
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16.  The DART visited a small camp for internally displaced 
persons (IDPs) on the outskirts of Mosul where eleven families 
have taken shelter near an abandoned Iraqi army base that is now 
used by the Coalition.  While at the camp, the DART learned that 
children had discovered unexploded ordnance while playing in a 
nearby field.  Coalition forces were immediately notified, and 
they promptly removed the ordnance. 
 
17.  Land tenure issues appear to be heating up with the 
population perceiving little movement on this issue from the U.S. 
Government.  An estimated eighty percent of the issues are 
complex but not difficult if a date can be agreed to for the last 
reasonable Iraqi law and if the registered land system has not 
been tampered with, as indicated by most local leaders.  There 
will be cases that will need to be worked out in the courts 
and/or require the involvement of local traditional leaders. 
 
18.  Coalition forces in Mosul are involved in the sale of houses 
(USD 1,000 per unit) in Domiz, which was previously Kurdish land. 
The houses were built by the former regime.  The Coalition 
objective is to have an integrated community with 200 Kurdish 
families and 600 Arab families. 
 
JONES