POSSIBLE APPOINTMENT OF FORMER TALIBAN OFFICAL AS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KABUL 000351

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SA/FO AMBASSADOR QUINN, S/CT, SA/A, EUR/RPM,
EUR/UBI, EAP/ANP
NSC FOR AHARRIMAN, KAMEND
CENTCOM FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/24/2015
TAGS: PGOV PREL
SUBJECT: POSSIBLE APPOINTMENT OF FORMER TALIBAN OFFICAL AS
GOVERNOR OF URUZGAN

Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES RICHARD NORLAND FOR REASONS
1.4 (B) AND (D)


1. (C) Summary. President Karzai has informally
indicated that he will appoint Mullah Abdul Hakim
Munib as the new governor of Uruzgan. Munib is a
former high-ranking Taliban official who has
reconciled with the government of Afghanistan. Karzai
mentioned the decision in passing during a meeting
with General Abizaid on January 24 (septel),but gave
no details. Separately, CFC-A Commanding General
Eikenberry was informed of the decision while visiting
the National Security Council on January 22. The
General had the opportunity to meet with Munib;
details of that meeting are contained below.
President Karzai has not yet formally informed the
Embassy or, so far as we can tell, any other members
of international community. Munib said he expects to
take up his appointment sometime after the London
Conference. End summary.

Biographical information
--------------


2. (C) Abdul Hakim Munib (or Monib) who arrived in
Kabul with the Taliban forces in 1996, was first
appointed Deputy Minister of Communications. He then
changed portfolios to become Deputy Minister of
Frontier Affairs, where he served under Jalaluddin
Haqqani. His name was put on the U.N. 1267 sanctions
list in that capacity. (Note: Haqqani now leads an
anti-Coalition militia force operating out of Miram
Shah, North Waziristan, Pakistan. End note.) In
summer 2001 he was appointed Deputy Minister of
Transportation. Munib traveled abroad in the early
days of the Taliban regime to enlist recognition of it
as the legitimate government of Afghanistan. In late
2001 he broke with the regime and offered his
allegiance to opposition figures including Sayed Ahmad
Gilani and King Mohammad Zahir Shah, but was rebuffed.
Munib has since reconciled with the Afghan government
through the Program-e Takhim-e Sulh (PTS). He was
recently denied a J visa for travel to the U.S. on an
IV program.


3. (C) According to Embassy contacts, Munib was born
in 1969 in Zurmat District, Paktia province. (The
1267 list gives his DOB as 1973 or 1976). By his own
statement the son of a simple farmer, he studied in
various madrassas in Pakistan, completing his higher
studies at the Jama,at ul-Uloom Islamia, Binori town,
Karachi, aka Jamia Binoria. From there he was
recruited to join the Taliban in their military
campaign in Afghanistan. (Note: Jamia Binoria has
long been known as a feeder school for the Taliban and
had strong links to Al Qaeda. End note.) He played a
leading role in a particularly well-known battle
against the Northern Alliance that took place on the
Shumali Plain north of Kabul.


4. (C) After the fall of the Taliban, Munib returned
to Zurmat district, where he is currently serving as
the Imam of a mosque in the village of Hazrat Khail
and head of the district shura. (Note: Regional
Command East POLOFF reports that Zurmat District has
long been a staging area for Anti-Coalition Militia in
the Loya Paktia area - Paktia, Paktika, and Khost.
Coalition forces continue to have significant problems
there. PRToff reports that Paktia Governor Taniwal,
himself one of the most effective Afghan governors,
considers Munib a good man and a positive element for
Afghanistan. End note.) Munib received
international press attention in January 2002 when he
accused the Coalition of having mistakenly bombed a
group of civilian elders who he said were traveling to
Kabul to congratulate Hamid Karzai on his appointment
as head of the interim government. He next surfaced
as a member of the Constitutional Loya Jirga in 2003.
Most recently, he ran for Parliament in the September
elections, coming in eighth out of 68 candidates with
3.6 percent of the vote. This was not enough to gain
him a seat in Parliament.

Munib,s View of his Appointment
--------------


5. (C) Munib told LTG Eikenberry that since the open
break with the Taliban, Mullah Omar issued a fatwa
against him which has resulted in two assassination
attempts. This may or may not be separate from the
fatwa issued against all former Taliban who
participated in the emergency Loya Jirga. Munib said
that while the Taliban were initially popular because
of their ability to provide security, their failure to
deliver on other basic needs like reconstruction and
development caused many people to turn against them -
a warning that resonates today. In a press interview
in 2003, at the time of the Loya Jirga, he
characterized himself as a moderate Taliban who had
disagreed with many of the extreme policies of the
regime including the treatment of women. Munib told
Eikenberry that he is aware of the daunting challenge
facing him in Uruzgan, a province he has never
visited. He stated his intent to serve the people of
the province with honesty.

Comment
--------------


6. (C) This appointment, if it goes forward, is sure
to generate controversy. We do not yet have anything
from President Karzai - who has now left for Davos -
on the logic behind the appointment, but we can assume
it is an attempt to garner the support of local
citizens in this extremely conservative province,
often called the Taliban Heartland. Our PRT officer
in Uruzgan will provide a separate assessment of the
likely reaction there to Munib,s appointment. The
present governor, Jan Mohammad, despite his
reputation for corruption and lack of governance
skills, has a firm grip on power in the district and
is known as a fierce fighter against the Taliban
(though himself a former Talib). If he
accepts that Munib has genuinely renounced his former
allegiance he may well support the choice - and one
assumes that President Karzai has consulted closely
with him about it. According to the Deputy National
Security Advisor, Munib has the support of the
southern governors of Helmand, Kandahar, and Zabol,
who hope to work closely with him on stabilizing the
dangerous area shared by all four provinces.


7. (C) Karzai must also know that he will cause a
flurry of reaction locally and internationally.
Northern Alliance members who fought against the
Taliban will likely react strongly, as will Hazaras
whose community members were slaughtered by the
regime. Women,s groups will also respond.
Internationally, Russia is likely to oppose removing
his name from the 1267 list and human rights groups
may react strongly. We should also expect questions
about Karzai,s commitment to human rights principles,
since Munib has never publicly renounced the
ideological underpinnings of his Taliban years - he is
on record as saying he would always be a Talib
(student) and that he supported the idea of a true
Islamic state of Afghanistan, though he did not define
what that meant.


8. (C) In making this choice Karzai was likely
motivated by a desire to appeal to the Taliban in
Uruzgan and by broader reconciliation goals. Indeed,
while it is likely to cause significant repercussions
on the human rights front, the appointment may very
well improve the security situation in this key
province. In any case, since Karzai appears determined
to press ahead with it, we will want to look closely
at Munib,s human rights record, especially in light of
an expected GOA request to have his name removed from
the 1267 list. If Karzai is determined to do this, it
would behoove him to mount a PR campaign explaining
why Munib is the best person for the job of running
what is arguably Afghanistan,s most troublesome
province.
NORLAND