PRT JALALABAD: NANGARHAR GOVERNOR,S SECURITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 KABUL 005106

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SCA/FO DAS GASTRIGHT, SCA/A, S/CRS, SA/PB, S/CT,
EUR/RPM
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR AID/ANE, AID/DCHA/DGSF
NSC FOR AHARRIMAN
OSD FOR BREZINSKI
CENTCOM FOR CFC-A, CG CJTF-76, POLAD, JICCENT

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/15/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER ASEC MARR AF
SUBJECT: PRT JALALABAD: NANGARHAR GOVERNOR,S SECURITY
MEETING AND SUBSEQUENT ARREST OF TRIBAL ELDER

REF: KABUL 4917

Classified By: A/DCM Angus Simmons for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D).


1. (U) SUMMARY: Nangahar Governor Gul Agha Sherzai called a
special meeting with 200 elders and mullahs from the three
southern districts on October 2 to discuss the escalating
violence in the province, especially in the south.
Representatives from each of the districts spoke, with
members of the PRT and other Coalition Forces in attendance.
Immediately following the meeting, Coalition Forces (CF)
arrested one of the speakers, elder Zabid Zahir from Khogyana
province. Zahir,s son and Provincial Shura Member Tahir
Omar denied the charges that Zahir is a member of
Hizbe-Islami Gulbbudin. The Provincial Council blamed the
Governor and warned of demonstrations and protests if Zahir
was not immediately released. Two days later, CF did release
Zahir to the Governor, warning that the province could show
its commitment to security through their treatment of Zahir.
END SUMMARY


2. (U) Nangahar Governor Gul Agha Sherzai invited mullahs
from the districts of Khogyani, Pachir Wa Agam, and Sherzad
to a meeting at his palace on October 2. The principal topic
was the need for officials to work to stop the escalation of
violence against the Coalition Forces and members of the
international community in order for the province to retain
its good reputation and continue to receive assistance. He
also raised the issues of several recent arrests and searches
of people,s homes by CF over the last few weeks. Other
speakers included Provincial Shura Deputy Maulaw Abdul Aziz,
elder Zabid Zahir from Sherzad, elder Haji Mohammad Kayum
from Pachir Wa Agam, and elder Mir Zaman from Khogyani. Most
comments were in support of the Governor.


3. (U) The Governor spoke first, referring to President
Karzai,s recent trip to the U.S. and positive comments he
made about Nangarhar. (Comment: President Karzai had
mentioned Nangarhar,s improvement in reducing poppy
production in a CNN interview on"Larry King Live" and
referred to the way Nangarhar solved problems in a press
conference following his meeting with President Bush.) The
Governor emphasized the important work that members of the
international community were doing in Nangarhar and
repeatedly warned that all of these efforts will end if the
violence continues to increase. He specifically said that
the PRT has been very generous and that "we have to help
them" (probably referring to the September 17 ambush against
a PRT Convoy in Sherzad District reported reftel). Another
recent incident he mentioned was the September 28 IED attack
in the Khogyani district against a convoy of clearly marked
UN vehicles. The convoy was carrying construction
contractors, including the Governor,s son, who were working
on road improvements in the district. The Governor became
increasingly emotional as he spoke (as he often does) and
said that this is a time for a jihad for reconstruction. He
announced that he would soon visit the three districts.


4. (C) Dr. Asif Qazizada, the influential Director of
Canals, rose to thank the Governor for his generous support
for the people of Khogyani. (Comment: This is ironic
considering that he is suspected of being involved in the
last two assassination attempts against the Governor.) Dr.
Asif suggested that representatives of the different
ministries should visit the districts before the Governor
goes there. He encouraged the people in the districts to
talk with the Taliban and convince them to give their support
to peace and security.


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5. (U) Maulawi Abdu Aziz, Deputy Chairman of the Provincial
Council, followed Dr. Asif and said that he was proud that
President Karzai said Nangarhar province was a province of
&peace and stability8. He directly addressed the members
of the Coalition who were present, specifically the Special
Forces sitting to his right. He told them that all agencies
of the Afghan government were functioning well and CF needs
to let Afghan security forces search for the insurgents. He
referred to several recent controversial arrests and searches
by CF and said they should simply ask Nangarhar officials to
find the bad guys and bring them in. Members of the audience
responded with loud support. (Comment: Aziz has suggested
this strategy to the PRT Commander many times in the past.
Most recently, the Commander asked Aziz to bring the people
responsible for attacking the PRT convoy in Sherzad on
September 17 to prove the viability of this approach, but
nothing has happened yet.)


6. (C) Mir Zaman from Khogyani spoke next. He said that
insurgents were coming from the other side of the border and
what the province needed was a police chief (probably
referring to the well-connected Afghan Border Police Director
Haji Abdul Zahir, who was transferred to another province
several months ago but has refused to leave. Several sources
have told us that he will depart soon, but the official
chosen to replace him has since been arrested.) Zaman said
that thousands of people in Pachir Wa Gam were sacrificed
during the Russian times, but that the Nangarhar government
was strong because it was a Mujahideen government. He said
that there are only two reasons for anti-coalition activity
)- CF are searching homes for no reason and other provinces
do not have a Mujahideen government.


7. (C) Zabid Zahir, tribal elder and father of Provincial
Shura member Mohammad Tahir Omar, spoke on behalf of Sherzad
district. Zahir is also the person who had exhibited
questionable hospitality to the PRT convoy on September 17
(Reftel). His presentation was rather contradictory and
confusing as he said that people need to share any
information they had about anti-coalition activity and that
he supported peace and stability one hundred percent. He
then changed his tone to say there were serious land problems
caused by the government,s lack of control, declaring that
the current government &is a joke.8 There was mixed
audience reaction to this statement. Zahir said that if the
government wants to stop poppy production, it needs to become
aggressive and punish people. However, CF do not need to
come in airplanes and be aggressive (apparently referring to
an incident in which CF airpcraft provided air support for a
raid in the district). He warned that if CF continue this
kind of activity, people will support the Taliban. He
referred to another recent incident in which he said that CF
had made a promise to his son about not arresting people if
he brought them in to share information, and then they had
broken their promise. (Comment: On September 30, his son
Tahir Omar took Malik Asil and Malik Zaifur to speak with the
Special Forces ODA at JAF following an ODA operation to
exploit a suspected weapons cache in Sherzad. Asil and
Zaifur were sought by the ODA and were subsequently detained.
Tahir Omar claimed that ODA had promised that these two
would not be arrested if he brought them in for an interview.
Omar says that he felt betrayed and people in the district
would no longer trust him.)


8. (C) The meeting ended with the Governor taking the
podium to respond to the other speakers. He said that the
government had made mistakes but was fixing them. As far as
the controversial CF arrests, he explained that the President
signed a UN decree to give CF their authority. However, he

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said that he had warned CF to be careful and make sure that
they do not respond to allegations based on personal
animosity rather than fact, and they should minimize their
searches of people,s homes. (Comment: The Governor had
privately told the PRT that he wanted to be informed before
any future arrests were made, but he publicly defended CF
authority for the arrests.)

ZABID ZAHIR ARRESTED
--------------


9. (C) Following the meeting, ODA and OGA met with the
Governor to discuss arresting Zabid Zahir. The Governor
indicated it would not be a good idea to arrest him at the
palace but did not refuse their request. ODA met Zahir
outside the front gate and took him to Jalalabad Airfield
(JAF) for questioning, reportedly to avoid the possibility of
a battle at Zabid Zahir,s massive compound in Sherzad.
After a couple of hours of questioning, Zahir attempted to
leave and was told that he would be staying. Tahir Omar,
upset about the detainment of his father, immediately went to
the Governor,s palace and met with Governor Sherzai at a
&Break the Fast8 dinner, also attended by PRT Commander and
Pol Officer. The Provincial Shura came to the palace, upset
with the arrest, blaming the Governor for it.

THE RELEASE
--------------


10. (U) The following day, the Nangarhar Provincial Shura
came to the PRT to discuss the situation and asked for
assistance in obtaining the release of Zahir. They expressed
concern that Zahir had been detained for disagreeing publicly
with the Governor. Additionally, they were concerned that CF
arresting individuals at the Governor,s palace undermined
the authority of the Governor and made him look like he was
being controlled by the CF. Finally, the Provincial Shura
warned that there would be demonstrations, protests, and
business closings if Zahir were not immediately released.
PRT informed the Shura that Zahir was suspected of being a
Hizbe-Islami Gulbbudin leader who supported attacks on the
CF. Shura members had difficulty accepting these charges and
claimed that it was personal animosity from the informants
rather than fact.


11. (C) On October 4, the CF agreed to release Zahir to
Governor Sherzai, and the PRT met with Provincial Shura
Chairman Fazalhadi Muslimyar. They stressed that Zahir was
not being released as a result of the threats of protests,
but due to the culturally insensitive way in which he was
detained. Furthermore, it was made known that Zahir is
suspected of supporting activities against the CF, and
whatever the GOA did with him would demonstrate to the CF how
serious the GOA was about improving security, since the
Provincial Shura members have repeatedly requested that the
CF hand over detainees to the GOA for prosecution through the
Afghan court system. Muslimyar agreed and said he would
recommend that Zahir be turned over either to the NDS or
tribal elders. Zahir was released and eventually handed over
to the elders of his tribe who &guaranteed8 that he would
not participate in activities involved with insurgents.


12. (C) COMMENT: This incident illustrates well the
challenges of detaining and sorting out who is who in regions
where tribal leaders and tribal relationships hold sway. The
security situation in Nangahar is monitored closely by NATO
forces in command of RC(E),the US-led CJTF-76. As a border
province whose key locaion east of Kabul makes it a
thoroughway for insurgent and AQAM infiltration, Allied

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forces are making every effort to cultivate strong
partnerships with Provincial authorities and ANSF forces.
Deliberate operations are underway and more being planned to
target key enemy hot spots.
NEUMANN