KARZAI NOMINATES SABIT FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KABUL 003594

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E.O. 12958 N/A
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SUBJECT: KARZAI NOMINATES SABIT FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL

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1. (SBU) SUMMARY: President Karzai nominated Dr. Abdul
Jabar Sabit as Attorney General on August 8. The
Embassy has worked closely with Sabit on several
issues including the Counternarcotics Law, Anti-
Terrorism Law, and detainees. Although a somewhat
volatile personality, his appointment seems like a
move in the right direction; he is well qualified and
respected by many in the international community.


2. (SBU) Dr. Abdul Jabar Sabit, a 61 year old Pashtun,
has been an effective partner for the Embassy in all
aspects of law enforcement and legal reform and one of
the most competent lawyers in Afghanistan. Sabit has
served as Legal Advisor to the Ministry of Interior
since 2003 and has maintained an open and honest
relationship with the Embassy. Sabit is more
conservative than moderate in his views; for example
he has supported raids on restaurants serving alcohol
to Afghans and has been equivocal on the proposed new
Department for Vice and Virtue: he has made it clear
that while he may support the new department he firmly
opposes any enforcement capacity as was the case under
the Taliban. While he has always been very frank about
his views, he is willing to listen to other arguments
and take them into consideration. The UN and EU
representatives (whose views were not sought by
Karzai) would have preferred another candidate who we
felt was much less likely to begin prosecution of
corruption. END SUMMARY.

BIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION


3. (SBU) Dr. Sabit received a law degree from Kabul
University School of Law in the late 1960s and a J.D.
from George Washington University in 1977. He also
holds a Ph.D. in economics from George Mason
University. He has worked for the Taqnin, the
legislative drafting unit, at MOJ for many years. In
the early 1970s he led one of its two sections under
now- Chief Justice Azimi and knows the Afghan justice
system intimately. He has a reputation as a scholar,
publishing numerous scholarly articles on law, the
Afghan-Soviet conflict, and on the struggle against
the Taliban. Dr. Sabit worked and taught law in
Peshawar from 1978 until about 1983 when he was
recruited by the VOA to work in the U.S. He worked in
Washington for VOA from 1983 through approximately

1992. During the same period he also worked with
former MOI Jalali in the U.S. at the VOA. After
leaving the VOA, Dr. Sabit taught international law in
Canada and Pakistan until 2002. He also established
and ran a Human Rights Commission in Pakistan in the
mid 1990s. He returned to Afghanistan in early 2002 to
work with U.N. before joining the government in 2003.
Since 2003 he has worked as Legal Advisor for the MOI.


4. (SBU) Dr. Sabit has a son who is a neurosurgeon in
New Jersey (US Citizen); a son who is a medical
student at McGill University in Montral, Canada; and
a daughter in law school at McGill University in
Canada.

SABIT'S RECENT WORK WITH THE EMBASSY


5. (SBU) Sabit started working with the UN upon his
return to Afghanistan. The UK later persuaded him to
work at MOI as Legal Advisor to former Minister Jalali
in early 2003 to advise them on narcotics enforcement

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and legal issues. He was selected by the UK in 2004 to
establish the Criminal Justice Taskforce (CJTF),and
he selected the initial members of the CJTF. He has
served as the UK and CJTF's principal advisor for
counternarcotics.


6. (SBU) Over the last two years, Dr. Sabit has worked
closely with the embassy on several key legal issues.
One of the most high profile was the new Counter
Narcotics law on which he was the primary Afghan
interlocutor. Dr. Sabit also wrote the legal opinion
on the extradition of Baz Mohammad in October 2005.
More recently he worked on new extradition
regulations, that were sent to the Taqnin for passage
by decree.


7. (SBU) With regard to military issues, he has served
on the Afghan Detainee Working Group and led a team of
Afghans to visit Guantanamo in May 2006. He has also
worked on drafting military court laws in September
and December 2005 and his assistance was critical to
their approval by Taqnin and passage by Cabinet.


8. (SBU) Most recently Dr. Sabit has worked on the
Anti-Terrorism law which was recently submitted to the
Taqnin and GoA. He has said he plans to make fighting
corruption a key priority, an issue that most avoid.
He also said he would use the CN law and CN court
jurisdiction until a complete reform of corruption
laws can be completed. He will likely need and seek US
help on this task.


9. (SBU) Another likely change will be reform of the
Attorney General's Office. He has been called an
excellent administrator and has suggested he will
likely reform the entire office but will need US help
on this issue as well.

ON VICE AND VIRTUE


10. (SBU) Sabit's position on Vice and Virtue
Department is simple - he does not want anything that
even hints of a return to the Taliban ways, but fully
supports the reinstatement of the department under
restricted terms. Over the past two years he has
worked to roundup Chinese prostitutes working in
restaurants in Kabul and has confiscated alcohol from
several restaurants accused of serving alcohol to
Afghans. He feels strongly that Afghans need to be
protected from such vices and considers it his duty to
enforce these Sharia laws. When it comes to
foreigners, he is very tolerant. He does not expect
them to follow the same rules; however, at the same
time he expects they will not interfere with their
application to Afghans.

COMMENT


11. Comment: (SBU) Dr. Sabit is expected to be a very
aggressive and capable Attorney General and certainly
is highly qualified for the post. The Embassy is
encouraged by his nomination because he is competent,
qualified, and serious about necessary reforms; we
hope he is confirmed by Parliament. UN and EU
officials are concerned about his conservative views
but did not offer Karzai a better candidate. Sabit
does have a reputation for sometimes being a bit
"wild" in tackling issues on his own and sometimes

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raising a fuss; it is a risk we think is worthwhile
taking if we can get movement on corruption. He knows
the Ambassador supported his nomination (so does half
of Kabul and President Karzai is telling those who
complain about the appointment that the Americans made
him do it; an exaggeration). Sabit has said he will
consult closely with us but we will see how this
develops. Sabit is likely to undertake needed reform
in the AG's office and actively fight corruption. That
being said, we need to keep in mind his conservative
leanings and remember that while he will be open to
our suggestions, he has strong views of his own that
he will not easily abandon.

NEUMANN