RECONCILIATION PROGRAM HOLDS CONFERENCE WITH

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KABUL 002552 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR SA/FO GASTRIGHT, SA/CT AND SA/A NSC FOR AHARRIMAN STATE PASS USAID FOR AID/ANE, AID/DCHA/DG CENTCOM FOR POLAD, CG CFA-A, CG CJTF-76 E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV EAID PTER AF SUBJECT: RECONCILIATION PROGRAM HOLDS CONFERENCE WITH PRT'S; COORDINATED FUTURE FUNDING RECOMMENDED KABUL 00002552 001.2 OF 003 SUMMARY: ¶1. (SBU) The Independent Commission for the Program for Strengthening Peace (PTS) - the Afghan-led reconciliation process - held a conference on May 15 with representatives of Coalition and ISAF PRTs in order to familiarize them with the PTS process and to give the heads of the six regional PTS offices a chance to speak with their PRT counterparts in small group discussions. What emerged was that there was no coordinated policy on assisting the regional field offices, most of which are without significant resources - either financial or in terms of basic equipment. In the year since its establishment, the PTS has "reconciled" around 1,500 former Taliban and HiG (Hizb-i Islami (Gulbuddin)) fighters, most of them mid- or low-level. While there are some questions about the capability of the PTS staff and concerns about their accountability for equipment/funds, as well as monitoring of "reconcilees", the amount of money needed to keep the program running is quite small in terms of our overall assistance budget, and it has removed many potential combatants from the battlefield, especially in the eastern border regions. We are working to advance a coordinated approach among the Coalition/ISAF PRTs to assist the regional offices. End Summary ¶2. (SBU) Marking the first anniversary of its establishment by Presidential decree, the Independent Commission of the Program for Strengthening Peace (PTS) held a conference at the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul on May 15 to inform the commanders/personnel of the Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) about the program and its accomplishments, and ask for financial and technical support, in particular for its six regional offices (in Herat, Kunduz, Paktia, Konar, Kandahar, and Nangarhar provinces). Representatives of CFC-A (Captain Kalb),NATO (Senior Civilian Representative Hekmet Cetin), and ISAF (Major General Chris Brown) gave strong opening statements supporting the work of the Commission. The President of the PTS Commission, Professor Sigbatullah Mujaddidi (also the speaker of the upper house of Parliament) addressed the group of about 80 people, initially in Dari, but making his closing remarks in English. "We defend your lives, not only our lives. My enemies, especially the ISI of Pakistan are behind me to assassinate me - I hear reports (of death threats against me) every week" from Pakistanis who don't like the program's success or the fact that he (Mujaddidi) supports the Karzai government. Lamenting that the USG spends "$7,000 for every Afghan" while the PTS receives only $100,000, he appealed for more generosity from the international community. ¶3. (SBU) The PTS Chief of Staff Haji Akram noted that six regional offices had opened during the past year. The Commission would like to open an additional four offices, but doesn't have the money to do so at the present time. The PTS staff also appealed for funding for holding more conferences within and outside of Afghanistan to explain their program, as well as for visiting Europe and the U.S. to educate the international community, and money to establish a monthly magazine. ¶4. (SBU) The attendees then broke up into small groups, based on regional PTS office locations. Group members discussed how to improve cooperation between the PTS offices and the PRTs, and shared results with the entire audience. In the Paktia group, the head of the Gardez regional office, Habibullah Mangal, presented a list of equipment which the regional headquarters needed - office furniture, furniture for their guesthouse, two vehicles, one motorcycle, KABUL 00002552 002.2 OF 003 walkie-talkies, mobile phones, a medium sized generator, and video and digital cameras. The Gardez office covered four provinces (Logar, Paktika, Paktia and Khost) and three PRTs, but had varying degrees of contact with each of them - ranging from weekly meetings in Paktia, to almost no contact with the Khost PRT. Mangal said that the Gardez office, in the nine months since it opened, had reconciled 360 Taliban and HiG fighters, about equal numbers from each of the provinces, which was an excellent result for a small outlay of money (these figures were confirmed by the former PRToff in Gardez, who had worked with Mangal to start the program). PRToff noted that the type of equipment requested by the PTS office was not that expensive in the overall scheme of things and that, unlike other money spent, it had the advantage of reaping quick results - by bringing fighters off the battlefield immediately. ¶5. (SBU) Professor Musa Maroufi, a consultant to the PTS Commission, summarized the conclusions of the conference. Two major themes emerged: the need for additional logistic and financial resources, and the importance of coordination among all components of the PTS and the PRTs. While cooperation between the central and regional PTS offices and the PRTs appeared to be good, the Herat and Kandahar PRTs provided significant material support in the form of vehicles, computers, and furniture, while the others had not, giving rise to a certain amount of resentment about this disparity, and requests that similar resources be provided to all offices. The second point was that financial assistance should be increased and provided directly to the PTS program and not via the GoA, as is currently the case. The group requested the establishment of an ad-hoc committee consisting of representatives from ISAF, NATO, and Coalition Forces to deal specifically with the needs of the Commission in provinces where there is an ISAF/CFC-A presence, but no PRT. The group also requested help to publish a monthly magazine to explain the program to people in their regions. All participants felt the conference was a worthwhile exchange, allowing many PRT and regional officials to establish contact for the first time, and recommended that it be held on a regular basis. ¶6. (SBU) In order to facilitate cooperation among PTS offices, the local government and the PRT, it was suggested that regional PTS officials attend the weekly security meetings which include ANP. ANA, NDS, and PRT representatives. In addition, they would benefit from participating in the monthly provincial coordination meetings which normally include the governor, as well as provincial representatives from GoA ministries, the UN, NGO's and the PRT. ¶7. COMMENT: It has been difficult to obtain clarity on the amount and sources of funding for the PTS program. CFC-A contributed USD 325,000 in 2005 to help establish the PTS Commission's Kabul headquarters and the six regional offices, providing them with vehicles, computers and training. They have requested additional money for further support, but this has not yet been approved. Money to pay salaries and recurring expenses appears to come entirely from U.S. and U.K. sources, and is passed to the PTS Commission through the Office of the National Security Council; NSC staff was not sure where the funds came from, but said that they totaled around USD 70,000 per month. Members of the PTS Commission have complained that the payments are often late, forcing them to dip into their own resources to keep the program going. It is also not clear how long this funding will continue - there was some talk at the May 20 weekly meeting KABUL 00002552 003.2 OF 003 between the Commission, the NSC and CFC-A and ISAF that money had only been promised for the program's first year, which has just drawn to a close. What does seem clear is that the regional offices see very little of this money, and that they are the most effective means, especially when they work closely with activist governors and PRTs, to bring in disaffected Taliban and HiG fighters. At the May 20 coordination meeting, the ISAF representative said that there was no single ISAF policy on supporting the PTS program - each PRT supporting country, and indeed all NATO members, would develop their own. Also at this meeting, CFC-A said that it would work with the Commission to start a monthly informational magazine. ¶8. COMMENT (CONT'D) While post is aware that there are some accounting difficulties regarding the Commission's expenditures, we believe that the PTS program is worth our continued support, particularly at the regional level, and that more funding should be considered to open the four additional regional offices which the Commission has asked for. Using CERP funds to provide regional offices with needed equipment would cost relatively little and could bear potentially large dividends. In the meantime, this is another area where Coalition and ISAF PRTs need to establish closer liaison, although ISAF and CFC-A have initiated a weekly meeting to discuss better coordination. NEUMANN