PRT JALALABAD - DIFFERING VIEWS ON THE CROSS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 005733

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DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/FO DAS GASTRIGHT, SCA/A
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E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/06/2016
TAGS: MCAP MOPS PREL PGOV PTER PHUM AF
SUBJECT: PRT JALALABAD - DIFFERING VIEWS ON THE CROSS
BORDER JIRGA

Classified By: ACTING POLITICAL COUNSELOR MARTIN MURPHY FOR REASONS 1.4
(B) AND (D)


1. (SBU//RELS NATO/ISAF) Summary: While meeting with
Provincial Council Chairman Fazlhadi Mslimyar, PRT
officials were introduced to three Pakistani
journalists visiting Jalalabad and Kabul to discuss
the proposed cross border jirga. In a lively
discussion, two of the Pakistanis and the Afghan
Council Chairman expressed widely differing views on
the cross-border jirga with Pakistan. End summary.


2. (SBU//RELS NATO/ISAF) Chairman of the Nangarhar
Provincial Council Fazlhadi Muslimyar invited PRT
officials to his office for a meeting November 26 to
discuss various topics. While there, a group of three
Pakistanis journalists on a fact finding mission for
the proposed cross border jirga joined in the meeting,
and a lively discussion ensued. The Pakistanis
included: Hasan Khan, Controller of Current Affairs
and host of a well known Pashtun TV political program
"Current Affairs" for the AVT Channels in Islamabad,
also known as Khyber TV; Aimal Khatak, son of former
Pakistani Senator Ajmal Khatak, an opposition
politician and Pashtun nationalist; and Noor Rehman
"Shirzad", a correspondent for the AVT Channel.
(Comment: President Karzai has mentioned the Pashtun
Khyber TV as an important player in the cross border
jirga.) Shirzad did not speak, but Khan, Khatak, and
Muslimyar all expressed both hopes and concerns about
the proposed jirga.


3. (SBU//RELS NATO/ISAF) Khan described their visit
to Jalalabad and Kabul as a trip to "cover prospects
for the jirga, and to see how the people in
Afghanistan feel about it." He said that they would
go to the Pashtun regions in Pakistan next. Khan did
not think that the jirga would be a single event with
immediate results, but rather "a good exercise" and
the start of a longer process that would continue
until all disputes were resolved. He confided that he
is optimistic, but that he has found apprehensions on
both sides of the border. He pointed out that the
social landscape of the region has changed, as the
long tradition of tribal society is now being
influenced by money and power outside of this
traditional structure.


4. (C//RELS NATO/ISAF) PRT Commander asked what the
actual conflict or issue to be addressed by the jirga
will be, and whether it will really be a jirga to
reach a resolution of a problem, or a shura that would
simply promote discussion. Provincial Council
Chairman Muslimyar said that Pakistani President
Musharraf would come to Afghanistan first, followed by
Afghani President Karzai going to Pakistan. Both
sides would sit together to come up with solutions,
and the US and UN would only be observers. Muslimyar
said that both sides crave the same things, including
identifying their mutual enemies and improving
security on both sides of the border, no matter where
the problems come from. He believes that the
Pakistani Inter Services Intelligence Agency (ISI) is
supporting a large insurgency in Afghanistan and asked
the US to put pressure on Pakistan to end this. He
also said that based on the years that he lived in
Pakistan, he found that some Pashtuns there, including
those in the Punjab areas, do not think of themselves
as Pakistanis.


5. (SBU//RELS NATO/ISAF) Pakistani journalist Khan
said that there is a "low level of excitement" about
the jirga in Pakistan. Khatak noted that they have
not made any preparation for it there. (Comment: PRT
Afghan employees confirmed that they see much more
interest in the jirga among people in Afghanistan than
on the other side of the border in Pakistan.) Khan

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said that Pakistanis are interested, but Afghan
President Karzai is trying to include too many people
in the process. He said that it should involve the
people actually in the conflict first, with the
warring tribes coming forward. He complained that
Karzai is trying to expand it too much so that it
would become only a public meeting with speakers,
possibly even using Urdu or English rather than
Pashtu. Khan feels the jirga should be a Pashtun to
Pashtun event, with priority given to those currently
involved in the conflicts. Following this, it could
be expanded to include others who have an interest in
the area.


6. (SBU//RELS NATO/ISAF) All three agreed that
"foreigners" or "outsiders" are a big part of the
problem, though they did not exactly agree on who
these foreigners are. Muslimyar said that Pashtuns
have no conflict among themselves, and any Pashtuns
involved in the conflict have been trained by
outsiders. Khatak said that "non state actors" are
causing the conflict, suggesting these are foreign
fighters from other countries such as Tajikistan or
Chechnya. Khan agreed that "foreigners" are the
problem, and the ones who are causing trouble on both
sides of the border. He said that Pashtuns can always
tell whether a person is Pashtun or not, even if they
do not know the person. He also pointed out that the
jirga is an Afghan tradition that foreigners do not
have, so there is the question of which "foreigners"
would be allowed to attend the event.


7. (SBU//RELS NATO/ISAF) PRT Commander asked how any
agreement reached at the jirga would be enforced.
Pakistani politician Khatak said that would be
problem. He noted that the "disruptive foreigners"
currently in the Pashtun areas could not be there now
without the support of the people. The Taliban had
been allowed to re-emerge, and he asked who could
enforce jirga decisions if the population is not
controlling the Taliban now. He declared that one-man
rule and lack of a democratic system in Pakistan is a
big part of the problem, and asked why the western
powers allow this to continue. Hassan agreed that it
would be much easier to handle the "foreigners" in a
democracy.


8. (SBU//RELS NATO/ISAF) Comment: Though the initial
excitement in the province has cooled and the jirga
process is no longer the leading story in the press,
there is still interest and discussion about what form
the jirga might take or what results could be
expected. No conclusions or agreement were reached
during this meeting, and the three Pakistanis left the
meeting to head to Kabul for four more days of
interviews and discussions. End comment.
NEUMANN