MOI PERSONNEL CHANGES: SCORE CARD

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 KABUL 004207 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/FO, SCA/A, S/CRS, S/CT, EUR/RPM, INL/CIVPOL STATE PASS TO USAID FOR AID/ANE, AID/DCHA/DG, NSC FOR JWOOD OSD FOR SHIVERS CENTCOM FOR CSTC-A, CG CJTF-82, POLAD E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/26/2017 TAGS: PGOV PREL AF SUBJECT: MOI PERSONNEL CHANGES: SCORE CARD REF: A. KABUL 3501 ¶B. KABUL 3848 ¶C. KABUL 4121 ¶D. KABUL 3871 KABUL 00004207 001.2 OF 004 Classified By: Ambassador William Wood for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY. In late September, the Ministry of Interior (MOI) announced some 33 mid- to senior-level Palace appointments, including commanders for all four of the Afghan National Civil Order Police (ANCOP)'s brigades and several provincial chiefs of police. Anecdotal information on these and a few other recent changes among senior police suggests that most are performing competently in their new positions. Through this one round of appointments, President Karzai and Interior Minister Zarar appear to have accommodated international community (IC) desire for a merit-based approach to MOI senior appointments. Serious challenges remain, however. The Palace also elected not to vet the appointees with the Senior Appointments Board, established at the behest of the IC. Following are profiles of the appointees that we know best. END INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY. -------------- Chiefs of Police -------------- ¶2. (C) Kabul's new Chief of Police (COP),the recently-promoted MG Mohammad Salim Hasas, was previously COP in neighboring Parwan Province. An ethnic Pashtun, he replaced the well-regarded MG Esmatullah Dawlatzai. (Interior Minister Zarar later told Embassy Kabul that Esmatullah was sacked from his job as Kabul COP for failing to prevent a rash of kidnappings and other security incidents in the capital over the summer; however, Esmatullah was then offered an important position in the MOI hierarchy as Chief of Administration, reporting directly to MOI Deputy Minister LTG Basir.) International observers find Hasas businesslike, task-oriented and uninterested in small talk, a COP who regularly debriefs his zone commanders and district chiefs. His early moves include strengthening security on IED-prone Jalalabad Road in the capital, adding checkpoints in the city and augmenting in-service training programs. Hasas emphasizes to others his substantial working relationship with President Karzai. 
 ¶3. (C) Hasas' deputy, also a new appointee, is BG Mohammad Raziq, formerly the deputy of the criminal investigations division (CID) for Regional Command-Central. As deputy, he frequently interacts with the public and fields their complaints. Raziq appears to be particularly intelligent, adept at assimilating complex and technical information and an able chair at regional security council working group meetings. In late November, Raziq was at work on a Kabul security plan that focused on counter-terrorism. Raziq's priorities appear to be well harmonized with those of his boss, and Hasas reportedly often relies on Raziq to fill in for him at the last minute. International observers find him to be friendly with his peers and others and socially adroit. ¶4. (C) Kabul Province was also promised a new deputy commander in each of its four zones. The new deputy commander for Kabul's Zone 1, originally to be COL Abdul Razaq (former deputy COP for Bamyan Province and an ethnic Hazara),has instead turned out to be COL Haqnawaz Haqyar, formerly the chief of the Third District of the city of Kabul. Haqnawaz has begun well, instituting regular staff meetings and urging commanders to seek training opportunities for their charges. He makes himself accessible to the district COPs within his zone and reaches out to local elders. Less is known about Kabul Zone 2's new chief, BG Ewaz Mohammad (formerly COP for Kapisa Province),but initial impressions are equally positive. No information was available about incoming commanders in Zones 3 and 4, originally slated as COL Haqnawaz for Zone 3 and MG Abdul Majid Rozi for Zone 4; however, neither has landed in these KABUL 00004207 002.2 OF 004 positions. UNAMA also notes accusations of corruption against COL Abdul Hamid, former chief for the Laghman station of the National Directorate of Security (NDS),marked for a new job as deputy within Kabul Zone 4. ¶5. (C) While documented by UNAMA as a human-rights violator, MG Abdul Majid Rozi's story bears further examination, according to one UNAMA contact, and the organization dropped its initial objections to his reappointment to the police. A former LTG who survived rank reform, Majid has taken an MOI position as operations deputy of the National Police Coordination Center instead of the job in Kabul Zone 4. He is currently awaiting confirmation in a different MOI job as deputy for parliamentary security. Also of interest is that, according to UNAMA, IROA sought to preserve Majid's candidacy due in no small part to his status as a member of the Arab minority. Ethnically, the original appointees for Kabul Zones 1-4 were a Hazara, a Tajik, a Pashtun and Majid. ¶6. (C) Paktika Province's new COP, MG Nabi Jan Mullahkhail, made a lateral move to his new job from his previous position as Helmand Province COP. According to locally-stationed USG sources, Mullahkhail was quick to win the loyalty of his police officers by spending 12 straight days with them in the field, keeping his full complement in place throughout the operation. He is also described as a gifted orator who is likely to go far. ¶7. (C) In Takhar Province, BG Sayed Ahmad Sameh, an ethnic Uzbek originally of Samangan Province and a 27-year veteran of the MOI, left his job as provincial COP in early October for a ministry job in Kabul as MOI Chief of Human Rights. Embassy Kabul finds BG Sameh to be energetic and professional, with original ideas for extracting more human-rights reporting from police in the field. According to Sameh, before taking up his position as COP in Takhar, he served as COP in Kunduz Province for eight months, before that in Sar-e Pol Province for six months, and also served as COP in Samangan Province, where he originally rose through the ranks. Also according to Sameh, it was the MOI that ordered him to his new assignment, while he dutifully accepted, as a "soldier" must. In Takhar, locals viewed his appointment to an MOI job as a big promotion. ¶8. (C) In late November, Sameh's former deputy, BG Ziahuddin Mahmudi, was still holding the fort in Takhar. Mahmudi is known to have survived rank reform with his current rank; he is originally from Herat, and his family still lives there. Both the governor and elders in his home province are reportedly clamoring for his return as that province's COP. USG representatives in Takhar find Mahmudi to be effective, saying that he works well with U.S. and German mentors locally. Under both BG Sameh and BG Mahmudi, corruption among the Afghan National Police (ANP) in Takhar Province has been less egregious than in other provinces, festering principally among the Afghan Border Police (ABP). ¶9. (C) According to a September version of the Palace's planned reappointments, MG Sayed Kamal Sadat is its choice for the COP slot in Takhar; however, field sources report that Governor Ibrahimi, in place since July, is opposed -- perhaps because of Sadat's former position as a prominent counternarcotics official. One of Governor Ibrahimi's two brothers is an alleged narco-trafficker; UNAMA files also note drug ties for Sadat. ¶10. (C) A late addition to the Palace,s September list was Uruzgan Province,s new COP, BG Juma Gul Himat. Since assuming his appointment as COP on October 7, 2007, information regarding Juma Gul,s work has been positive. A former NDS officer who also participated in President Karzai,s election campaign, Juma Gul has proven himself a capable proponent of anti-corruption within the provincial ANP ranks. Additionally, Juma Gul has taken significant steps to secure the Kandahar-Tarin Kowt highway, a traditional haven for Anti-Coalition Militia (ACM) attacks. The Uruzgan delegation in parliament, which had previously KABUL 00004207 003.2 OF 004 expressed criticism of both the Governor and the Chief of Police, believe the level of teamwork between the Province,s two new leaders is promising. Uruzgan Governor Assadullah Hamdam plans to hold tribal jirgas in the next few days and Juma Gul,s role will be critical. ¶11. (C) Other changes also not on the Palace's September roster include Ghazni Province's new COP, LTG Khan Mohammad, who took over from MG Ali Shah Ahmadzai on November 8. LTG Khan Mohammad, a Ghilzai Pashtun from Kabul Province, is receiving high marks for his performance thus far (ref C). Additionally, PRT Asadabad reported in late November that the five district-level COPs in Kunar Province appeared on an MOI memorandum listing officials to be dismissed. An impetus for change in Kunar appears to be the Palace,s appointment of Governor Wahidi in November (ref D). Governor Wahidi immediately replaced four Kunar district administrators, and put the provincial administration on notice that he would not tolerate the corruption that became commonplace under his predecessor, Governor Deedar Shalizai. -------------- ANCOP Commanders -------------- ¶12. (C) As the country's premier police formation and the linchpin of planning for Focused District Development (FDD), a multi-year program to train police up through Afghanistan, district by district (ref B),ANCOP is in particular need of strong leadership. ANCOP's new Deputy Commander, BG Abdullah Stanikzai, came to his new post this summer from his job as deputy of the Counter-Narcotics Police of Afghanistan (CNPA). Despite the enormous opportunities for corruption as CNPA deputy, Abdullah reportedly lives extremely modestly. He received officer training in the former Soviet Union and projects professionalism "to a staff that needs it," as one observer remarked. ¶13. (C) The First Brigade (1 BDE)'s new commander, COL Abdul Rasul Tarakhail (due to make BG in spring 2008) is an ethnic Pashtun who was reportedly jailed by the Afghan communists for five years in Pol-e-Charki Prison. His father was a general, and Rasul himself enjoys a reputation as a professional officer of ability who is both effective and charismatic. ¶14. (C) ANCOP 2 BDE's new (and first) commander is BG Sardar Mohammed Zazai, who assumed his position in October Zazai is an ethnic Pashtun of the Zazai/Jaji tribe who was formerly the Paktika Province COP, where he served for some ten months. In summer 2007, local observers described Zazai as "not corrupt" but beset by inertia. Unusual among this group of new appointees, Zazai does not come highly recommended; however, his new position will be fraught with challenges as FDD goes forward. In addition, the current COP in Kandahar, where ANCOP 2 BDE is based, is parsimonious in supporting the brigade with supplies and rations, and MOI-assigned officers to 2 BDE are loath to assume their positions, evidently owing to the deteriorated security environment in the province. ¶15. (C) BG Mohammad Issa Iftikhari, an ethnic Hazara who was formerly COP in Balkh Province, has been named commander of ANCOP 3 BDE in Adraskan (Herat Province); and COL Abdul Ghafar, an ethnic Tajik formerly the deputy for operations at Regional Command-West, is slated to assume the command of ANCOP 4 BDE. (UNAMA reports that Ghafar was responsible for human-rights violations during Afghanistan's communist period.) As neither brigade has yet been formed, no information is available about the performance of either new appointee. ¶16. (C) Also of note is the decision to move Interior Minister Zarar,s chief of staff MG Mohammad Azam to a new job in charge of operations at the National Police Coordination Center (see also para 4 on Azam,s new deputy), a clear demotion. Azam has been fingered as corrupt, alleged KABUL 00004207 004.2 OF 004 to have sold choice COP positions while in his previous position, but UNAMA offered no derogatory comments on Azam in its assessment of this list of appointees. WOOD