BIOGRAPHIC BACKGROUND INFO ON GOVERNOR USMANI

UNCLAS KABUL 003333 SIPDIS DEPRTMENT FOR SCA/FO, SCA/A, EUR/RPM STATE PASS USAID FOR ASIA/SCAA NSC FOR WOOD OSD FOR WILKES CENTCOM FOR CG USFOR-A COS, CG CJTF-101 POLAD E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PINR AF SUBJECT: BIOGRAPHIC BACKGROUND INFO ON GOVERNOR USMANI ¶1. Dr. Mohammad Usman Usmani was sworn in as Governor of Ghazni on May 31, 2008. A Durrani Pashtun of the Alokozai sub-tribe, he was born in Daman District of Kandahar province in 1968. Usmani is a medical doctor and a 1999 graduate of Kandahar University. He joined Mir Wais Hospital in 2000 where he served as senior surgeon, trainer surgeon, and medical superintendent. During his medical career, he performed over 4,000 operations. Usmani likes to describe problems and issues in medical terms. In a recent description of Ghazni proince, he referred to Ghazni City as the heart, and the ring road as a main artery. Usmani likes to say with a wink, "I'm not a politician. I'm just a stupid doctor." ¶2. Usmani has two wives and ten children -- five boys and five girls. Usmani jokes that none of the children can be certain of which wife is their birth mother. The family resides in Kabul, and the children attend private schools there. Usmani and his family rely in part on a businessman brother in Kabul for financial support. Usmani says he also receives financial support from his tribe in Kandahar. ¶3. Active in Kandahar's civil society, Usmani was involved in the Islahia (reformative) Jirga of Kandahar. At the time of his appointment to Ghazni, he was a member of the intellectuals' and doctors' associations; the municipal shura; and the "Advisory and Reformative Jirga" of Kandahar. According to UNAMA, Usmani had good relations with development partners while in Kandahar, and there were no reports of his involvement in illegal activities or human rights violations. Usmani likes to talk about the need to transfrm Afghanistan into a civilized nation. He cutions, however, that progress must be carried ut in millimeters, not in meters. ¶4. Usmai is reportedly an associate of Ahmad Wali Karzi. He claims to have close and enduring ties to the entire Karzai family, including the President, whom he has known since childhood and sometimes refers to as "my father." Usmani appears to have taken on a leadership role among Kandahar Alokozais after the assassinations of traditional leaders like Mullah Naqibullah and the Khakrezwalls. He and his tribe lobbied the Presidential Palace and PRT Kandahar for his appointment as Governor of that province. His appointment to Ghazni may have been a sop to the Alokozais, who often complain of scant patronage from the Karzai Government. Alokozai elders told PRT Kandahar that Usmani's appointment to Ghazni was intended to test his administrative and leadership abilities, and that he would likely receive a more prominent post in the future. Usmani told PRT Ghazni more than once that he would prefer not to be the governor of Ghazni, viewing it as "too complicated" ethnically and religiously. In October 2008, he claimed that at least 30 members of the Wolesi Jirga had petitioned President Karzai to request that Usmani be appointed the Governor of Herat. If offered that position, Usmani said he would accept it. USMANI'S MAIN MISSION: TO DELIVER GHAZNI TO KARZAI -------------- -------------- ¶5. Usmani has demonstrated unswerving loyalty to the Karzai administration and has repeatedly stated that his top priority is to deliver Ghazni to President Karzai in the 2009 election. He is already sounding out Hazaras, and attempting to steer them away from their candidates -- Khallili and Muhakik -- toward the President. (In early November, Usmani replaced the Nawur district administrator with Khadad Alimi, a Hazaran whom he trusts. Usmani told the PRT that it took him several months to counter efforts by Hazaran MP Qasimi to frustrate the appointment. Usmani said the people of Moqur requested a new district administrator, and that he prevailed with the help of tribal leaders in Ghazni City.) WOOD