MOHAQEQ TILTS AGAINST KARZAI

UNCLAS KABUL 001460 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/FO, SCA/A STATE PASS TO USAID FOR AID/ANE, AID/DCHA/DG NSC FOR WOOD OSD FOR SHIVERS CENTCOM FOR CG CJTF-101 POLAD E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV AF SUBJECT: MOHAQEQ TILTS AGAINST KARZAI ¶1. (SBU) MP Mohammad Mohaqeq, a leader of the predominantly Hazara Hezb-i-Wahdat party, continues to try to unify his divided ethnic group into a bloc that can maneuver between Karzai and the opposition United Front. Though he might prefer to encourage both into a bidding war for Hazara votes, he is increasingly inclining towards the United Front. ¶2. (SBU) Mohaqeq perceives an increasingly pro-Pahstun bias in Karzai's policies, which is eroding the multi-ethnic appeal that secured the president's 2004 election victory. During a late May conversation with us, Mohaqeq condemned Karzai's recently established Independent Directorate for Local Governance (IDLG) as a "Pashtun tool." He also evinced suspicion about Karzai's eagerness to reconcile Pashtun renegades Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Mullah Omar. ¶3. (SBU) Though he fought viciously against the Tajik- dominated United Front's antecedent, the Northern Alliance, during the civil war, Mohaqeq now praises the political opposition, without formally joining it. He has found common cause with his old enemies in the goal of forestalling forever the re-establishment of the Pashtuns' centuries-old hegemony in Afghanistan. Mohaqeq said he is determined to hold the election law hostage as long as it contains the article preserving the 10-seat lower house reservation for Pashtun Kuchis. DELL