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