ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK FUNDING POLICE OFF THE BOOKS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 001778 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR SRAP, SCA/A, S/CRS, INL/AP STATE PASS TO USAID FOR AID/ANE, AID/DCHA/DG NSC FOR JWOOD OSD FOR FLOURNOY CENTCOM FOR CG CJTF-82, POLAD, JICENT KABUL FOR COS USFOR-A E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PINS MASS AF SUBJECT: ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK FUNDING POLICE OFF THE BOOKS REF: Kabul 1643 ¶1. (SBU) Summary. The International Police Coordination Board (IPCB) has learned that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) struck a deal with the MOI and Ministry of Finance (MOF) to privately fund an increase in the ANP in Faryab Province to coincide with Ring Road construction projects it is financing there. The ADB will contribute $2.5 million for 500 new recruits who will be given two weeks of training by the ANP, with MOF providing an additional $1.5 million. None of the safeguards put in place by the International Community to professionalize the ANP (biometrics, ID cards, vetting, drug testing) will apply to this new group, which also does not fall under the Tashkil for MOI. UNAMA offered to protest this move on behalf of the IPCB and IC and will approach Minister Atmar. Since the IC has provided generous support to the MOI/ANP through the Law and Order Trust Fund for Afghanistan (LOTFA) and the IPCB, the IC is frustrated that the MOI and MOF failed to be open and transparent on this private initiative. End Summary. ¶2. (U) We have learned that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) recently (some time after April) reached an agreement with unknown parties in the MOI and/or ANP to fund the recruitment, training and employment of 500 new "ANP" for Ghormach District in Faryab Province. The ANP Tashkil for Faryab is 1,289 and the HR rolls show more than 1,300 on duty already, so this force is clearly off-Tashkil and not therefore authorized by the central GIRoA budget. ¶3. (U) Various reports from U.S. and international sources indicate the ADB is paying $2.5 million, routed through the Ministry of Finance, for what will essentially be a private security force sanctioned by the GIRoA as the ADB begins implementing construction projects in Ghormach. The MOF is adding an additional $1.5 million to meet the $4 million financial requirement. The recruits (some of whom have been referred to as former mujahedeen) were scheduled to receive a two-week training course from existing ANP forces and will be on duty for one year. The latest development is that the German Police Project Team based out of RC-North has offered to provide more extensive training, not knowing the politics of the situation. ¶4. (SBU) This partnership between the ADB and MOI was never vetted by or shared with the International Community, which funds all ANP remuneration through the Law and Order Trust Fund for Afghanistan (LOTFA). The issue first came to our attention in an International Police Coordination Board (IPCB) meeting on June 17. UNAMA offered to take the lead in raising this issue with Minister Atmar, and will report back to the IPCB. The IC is united in thinking that we have fought too long and too hard to rid Afghanistan of its many unofficial security forces to now look the other way. The Norwegian representative to the IPCB said that the Norwegians weren't aware of the ADB/ANP agreement, even though they lead the PRT in Faryab. IPCB members are frustrated with the lack of transparency on the part of MOI, especially after developing such a cooperative relationship with Minister Atmar during his nine-month tenure. ¶5. (SBU) Comment. Prior to learning of this ADB/MOI partnership, members of the IPCB and donors to LOTFA had full confidence in the level of trust that had developed between Minister Atmar and the IC. As recently as the June 14 LOTFA Steering Committee meeting (reftel),the IC had banded together to raise a total of almost $42 million to fund ANP growth in vulnerable provinces prior to the elections to support him. The news of the ADB/MOI arrangement has undermined that confidence in Kabul. ¶6. (SBU) The issue is complex because at the operational level there are elements of the IC that are trying to be of assistance in Ghormach. We understand that U.S. military mentors in Faryab and German mentors in Balkh may be assisting the new recruits, and may have no idea of the broader policy issues that consume their embassies and military leaders in Kabul. Ghormach is currently the only UNAMA-designated Integrated Approach district that is even partially working in terms of that flagship program. ¶7. (SBU) International partners, especially CSTC-A, have spent countless man-hours mentoring MOI and helping develop the last few Tashkils, and cleaning up a human resources management system that was out of control and corrupt. They created the Electronic Payroll System and Electronic Funds Transfer to professionalize the police force and prevent diversion of pay. All ANP now get proper ID cards with biometrics, they are vetted to ensure only the right candidates are sent off to training, and they are drug tested. The Minister appears to have undermined these efforts and returned to the bad old days when quasi-official security forces roamed the countryside with little control exercised by the central government, little training, and every possibility they will morph into a private militia under KABUL 00001778 002 OF 002 the control of a local warlord. End comment. EIKENBERRY