BALKH GOVERNOR ATTA CHARGES GIROA ASSASSINATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 003167

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SRAP, SCA/FO, SCA/A, EUR/RPM
STATE PASS USAID FOR ASIA/SCAA
USFOR-A FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/07/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL ASEC TU AF
SUBJECT: BALKH GOVERNOR ATTA CHARGES GIROA ASSASSINATION
PLOT, TURKISH "PAN-TURKIC" AGENDA

REF: KABUL 2814

Classified By: Interagency Provincial Affairs Deputy Coordinator Hoyt Y
ee for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary: Governor of Balkh Province Atta Mohammad
Noor has accused Minister of Interior Mohammad Hanif Atmar of
plotting to destabilize Afghanistan's northern region and to
assassinate him because of his support for presidential
candidate Abdullah Abdullah. He charged that in a recent
meeting President Karzai held with Atmar and other senior
security advisors, Atmar falsely claimed that Atta was
plotting to attack Kabul City. Atta repeated his earlier
claims that the central government has armed unofficial
district commanders and Taliban in Kunduz and Baghlan.
Separately, he argued that if Turkey is allowed to establish
a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Jawzjan Province,
it will serve as a platform to further Turkey's destabilizing
"Pan-Turkic" agenda in the northern region. End Summary


2. (C) PRToff met Sept 16 with Governor Atta in his public
audience hall to introduce incoming PRT Mazar-e-Sharif USAID
Field Program Officer Vanita Datta and to present her and
USAID Regional Command-North (RC-N)-based Development Advisor
Nino Nadiradze as part of the RC-N development team. PRToff
detailed the planned civilian expansion in the region,
including establishment of a senior civilian platform at RC-N
and the intent to open a consulate in 2010. Afterwards,
Atta asked to speak privately on Balkh province security
issues and post-election political uncertainty. Referring
to his provocative Massoud Day remarks that were broadcast on
national television, Atta said the points he made were the
consequence of the central government trying his patience.
"I could have said much more. I could have spoken about
central government terror and assassination plots against me."

Assassination Plots
--------------


3. (C) Governor Atta charged that Interior Minister Atmar
had been making improper and negative remarks about him to
President Karzai, to the Afghan National Security Council and
to UN Special Representative for Afghanistan Kai Eide.
Atmar, Atta claimed, had been saying that the Balkh Governor
is "against the rule of law, against development and actively
trying to destabilize Balkh and the entire nation." He went
on to say that, in a recent meeting Karzai held with Atmar
and other senior security advisors, Atmar falsely accused
Atta of being in the Shamali region (the region immediately
outside of Kabul) plotting to attack Kabul City. "A friend
of mine present at this meeting called me on my cell phone to
ask me where I was. I told him --and the larger speakerphone
audience-- that I was right where I was supposed to be, here
in Mazar taking care of my people."


4. (C) Atta accused Minister of Interior Atmar of plotting
to destabilize the northern region and to assassinate him
because of his support for Abdullah and because "Atmar and
other Karzai supporters are men of little political
capacity." Democratic principles, he argued, allow him to
publicly support whichever candidate he chooses. (Note: In
fact, current election law prohibits appointed government
officials like Atta from publicly endorsing presidential
candidates. End Note).

GIROA Arming the Taliban?
--------------


5. (C) Atta called himself a necessary actor in Balkh. "If
I take my eye off of the province, security here will
deteriorate," he stated. He reiterated his Massoud Day
charge that the central government has armed district
commanders ("We have the names and the evidence!") (Comment:
Atta was referring to the group of informal district
strongmen in Balkh who are not connected to Afghan security
forces and not allied with him, including some who are
non-Tajik Pashtuns and Hazaras. End comment.) He further
charged that the central government has armed Taliban in
Kunduz and Baghlan ("We are developing evidence and will
submit it to the international community soon.") The central
government is arming the Taliban, he argued, in order to fool
the international community into supporting its agenda. But
this poorly conceived strategy will inevitably backfire on
the Karzai administration, Atta predicted: "They will be
trapped by their intrigue, just as the Pakistanis, whose army
and intelligence service actively supported the Taliban, were
eventually trapped by theirs."

KABUL 00003167 002 OF 002



On the Elections
--------------


6. (C) Governor Atta said that he had spoken out on
elections because he did not want Afghanistan's young
democratic institutions to be fatally tainted by the fraud,
about which the Abdullah campaign has provide ample proof to
the ECC. It must be increasingly difficult for
international community members to accept such manipulation
without commenting, he speculated, pointing out the very
public disagreement between UN Special Representative Kai
Eide and his former deputy (and former U.S. Ambassador) Peter
Galbraith over how to deal with a fraud so overwhelming that
it is draining what little credibility the Karzai
administration has left. "International Community members
who have spent so much of their tax-payers, money and
spilled so much of their young soldiers, blood are now under
pressure from their own parliaments to justify their
continued engagement in Afghanistan, but they cannot even
tell their governments that they,ve brought democracy to
Afghanistan!" was Atta,s final word.

Perceived Dangers of a Turkish PRT in Jawzjan
--------------


7. (C) Turkey has long cultivated ties with and openly
favors Turkic ethnic groups in Afghanistan, Atta said. He
had hoped that, as a member of NATO, Turkey's policies would
mature and the country would expand its focus to supporting
the entire Afghan nation. But, he charged, Turkish
representatives had met with President Karzai to steer
Junbesh Party support to the Karzai campaign. Worse still,
he said, Turkey brought human rights violator General Rashid
Dostum back to Afghanistan, a clear indicator that Turkey has
not grown out of its old interventionist ways.


8. (C) If Turkey is allowed to establish a PRT in Jawzjan
Province, it will serve as a platform to further Turkey's
"Pan-Turkic" agenda in the area, Atta charged. With
assistance from Uzbekistan, he added, Turkey, which already
wields far too much influence in Afghanistan's northern
region, can be a significant destabilizing force. Turkey, he
concluded, wants to be accepted by the international
community as its most influential partner in northern
Afghanistan, much as Pakistan is accepted as the most
influential partner in the southern region. (For Embassy
Kabul's reporting on Turkish exploratory steps to establish a
PRT in Jawzjan, see reftel)


9. (C) Comment: By all accounts, Governor Atta continues
to be effective in Balkh, rebuilding and expanding
Mazar-e-Sharif city infrastructure and wringing significant
development initiatives from the international donor
community, including important new road and road repair work
and, from the German Regional Command based in
Mazar-e-Sharif, a new airport. His penchant for theatrical
saber rattling was again apparent in this meeting. Behind
all the bluster against supposed central government
machinations and plotting, there appears to be one clear
message to the Karzai administration and to the international
community: they must deal with him as a regional player. He
is very likely, however, to be one of Karzai,s targets for
reappointment in a possible second term. End Comment
EIKENBERRY