PRT LASHKAR GAH: GOVERNOR HOSTS JIRGA IN SANGIN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 001344

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
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/DG
NSC FOR AHARRIMAN
OSD FOR SHIVERS
CENTCOM FOR CG CJTF-82, POLAD, JICCENT
REL ISAF/NATO

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER ASEC MARR AF
SUBJECT: PRT LASHKAR GAH: GOVERNOR HOSTS JIRGA IN SANGIN

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SUMMARY
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1. (SBU) Following the recent military operation to clear
the Taliban from Sangin district, on April 12 a Government of
Afghanistan (GOA) and ISAF delegation traveled from Lashkar
Gah to Sangin to meet with a group of elders. Governor
Wafa's delegation included the Police Chief, head of the
Ulema Shura, and a member of the Provincial Council from
Sangin. Wafa gave a prepared speech to the approximately 100
elders assembled, discussing improvements in security,
inviting people to return to Sangin and assuring them that
the GOA was committed to security and development in the
district. He specifically mentioned the Kajaki energy and
infrastructure project and the benefits it would bring the
Province. The Task FORCE Helmand Commander spoke of ISAF's
support for the Afghan National Army's efforts and reaffirmed
that ISAF troops were here to support the GOA and pursue
hardcore Taliban and foreign fighters. Some of the elders
spoke with the Governor and the Chief of Police and offered a
number of requests and complaints, the latter including
accusations of looting by Afghan National Police. The jirga
should be considered a success, as it brought together a
significant number of local elders with Provincial Government
officials to AIR concerns and look ahead. That success could
result in a newly reinvigorated Wafa, whose outreach efforts
towards tribal leaders had flagged in recent months. As a
measure of stability and security returns to the district,
the PRT will engage local leaders and provincial officials on
the (re)introduction of the Afghan government and
reconstruction to the district. END SUMMARY

Tribal Outreach Follows on Heels of Sangin Operation
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2. (SBU) Following the recent military operation to clear
the Taliban from Sangin district, located in northern
Helmand, on April 12 a Government of Afghanistan (GOA) and
ISAF delegation traveled from the provincial center of
Lashkar Gah to Sangin to meet with a group of tribal leaders
and others from the district. Governor Wafa led the GOA
delegation, which included his Chief of Police, the head of
the Ulema Shura, and the Provincial Council (PC) member from
Sangin. Representatives of Task FORCE Helmand (TFH) and the
PRT included HTF Commander Brigadier Lorimer, the HTF Deputy
Commander, the acting head of the PRT (civilian) and the
USAID representative. Approximately 100 Sangin elders
participated. (NOTE: Estimated attendance before the shura,
from Afghans in Lashkar Gah, ran into the hundreds. Some
locals in Sangin, informed of the shura before it occurred,
expressed doubts that a sufficient number of influential
elders would attend to make any decisions resulting
meaningful. One hundred could be considered a significant
turnout, especially considering how soon it took place after
commencement of the operation and that there were troops in
contact with anti-government forces roughly four kilometers
away from the jirga site during the event. END NOTE)


3. (SBU) Wafa gave a prepared speech to the elders
assembled, covering a variety of themes: expressed thanks to
the Afghan National Army (ANA) and National Police (ANP) for
their hard work; called for the need to stop foreign
fighters; the district's residents are returning to Sangin;
conveyed the importance of elders participating in district
shuras; and requested Sangin residents to send 100 young men
to be trained as ANP. He asked the shura what its priorities
were for reconstruction and development and assured them that
local contractors would participate in reconstruction. Wafa
also spoke of the benefits of the Kajaki energy and
infrastructure project for Helmand and Kandahar provinces.


4. (SBU) The PC member from Sangin told the elders that the
international community was there to help Afghans, that the

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residents needed to "take their district back" and that
Afghans must stop killing each other. (NOTE: It was not made
clear from whom they should take the district back. END NOTE)
The head of the Ulema Shura cited a passage from the Koran
to support his assertion that Muslims and Christians can and
should work together.


5. (SBU) Brigadier Lorimer spoke to the elders, explaining
that ISAF wanted Sangin to be a better place and that
stability led to development. He also spoke of ISAF's
support for the Afghan security forces and reaffirmed that
ISAF troops were there to support the GOA and pursue hardcore
Taliban and foreign fighters and that once the Taliban were
removed the district would be a safer and more prosperous
place for the elders and their families.
Tribal Leaders Respond
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6. (SBU) A number of the elders spoke with the Governor and
the Chief of Police -- sometimes quite passionately or
angrily -- and offered a number of requests and complaints.
One prominent local elder, pointing out that for 29 years
there had been no GOA presence in Sangin, said that the
district's residents were not happy with the Taliban and
welcomed ISAF and GOA support. Those voicing complaints
mostly pointed to looting by the ANP, though some requested
that ISAF troops move out of the villages.

Shura Reinvigorates the Governor
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7. (SBU) Governor Wafa was immensely pleased with the shura.
The success of the event -- as he saw it -- may have
reinvigorated the Governor, who, in a subsequent meeting with
PRT representatives, spoke of other shuras he wished to hold.
Specifically, in the near future Wafa plans a jirga in Nahri
Sarraj, a district that is a focus of the PRT's development
and reconstruction efforts and the site of the first
construction camp related to the Kajaki project. Governor
Wafa's message echoed those of President Karzai during his
visit to Lashkar Gah on March 29 when the President met with
Wafa and 300 elders.

Comment
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8. (SBU) Wafa's enthusiasm for the jirga is both encouraging
and justifiable. Not long after the operation commenced, and
while ISAF and the GOA were still prosecuting it, GOA
officials and ISAF representatives met in the district center
with a significant number of local elders to speak frankly
about problems and possibilities. As a measure of stability
and security returns to the district, the PRT will engage
local leaders and provincial officials on the
(re)introduction of the Afghan government and reconstruction
to the district.


WOOD