POSITIVE SHAKEUP IN KHOST AFTER PROVINCIAL LEADERS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 003790

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SRAP, SCA/FO, SCA/A, EUR/RPM, INR/B
STATE PASS USAID FOR ASIA/SCAA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/25/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL AF
SUBJECT: POSITIVE SHAKEUP IN KHOST AFTER PROVINCIAL LEADERS
RELIEVED FOR ALLEGED CORRUPTION

Classified By: Interagency Provincial Affairs Deputy Director Hoyt Yee
for Reasons 1.4(b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: In his first two months in office, acting
Governor of Khost Province Tahir Khan Sabari has performed
well, successfully restoring a baseline level of government
in Khost and taking an active role in public outreach. The
former Deputy Governor, Sabari took over from the ineffective
and allegedly corrupt Hamidullah Qalandarzai in late
September after Qalandarzi and Provincial Afghan National
Police (ANP) Chief Abdul Qyoum Bakizoi were both removed from
their posts. While not the most modern or skilled
administrator, Sabari has deep local knowledge, is generally
respected in Khost, and, most significantly, is not believed
to be corrupt. His defusing of several recent incidents
involving Coalition Forces in Khost has been helpful to us.
The Khost Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) is taking
advantage of Sabari,s abilities to push through stalled
projects and institutionalize more regular communication than
we had with the previous governor. END SUMMARY.

OUT WITH THE OLD
--------------


2. (C) Former Governor Qalandarzai's dismissal followed
complaints by tribal councils and civil society groups that
he was ineffective, corrupt, and risk-averse. Throughout
September 2009, civil society organizations and tribal
councils agitated for his removal. Qalandarzai, a
Jalalabad-born technocrat appointed in January 2009 as part
of a slate of young Pashtun governors charged with getting
out the vote for Karzai, is a civil engineer by training and
a former Deputy Minister of Communications for
Administration. He made no secret of his distaste for Khost.
Despite strong potential, he never seemed to fully engage
with the job. Given multiple assassination attempts on
previous Khost Governor Arsala Jamal and complex suicide
attacks on provincial government facilities in May and July
2009, Qalandarzai was focused on his own survival rather than
actively governing. A common complaint among Khostis was
that he never left the Governor's House to meet with people,
and never traveled to remote districts of the province.
Activists also accused him of accepting bribes related to
land distribution and installing relatives in key posts (e.g.
Customs Director and Khost TV Director).


3. (SBU) Qalandarzai claimed the main reason for the popular
dissatisfaction with his tenure was the dissipation of the
stream of large U.S.-funded development projects in the
province in recent months. (Note: It is true that the Khost
PRT is reviewing Commander's Emergency Response Projects
(CERP) proposals more rigorously and steering away from some
with technically demanding requirements and long-term
sustainment requirements. End note.) In particular, Khost
residents blamed Qalandarzai for the loss of a much
publicized proposal to construct a new airport for the
province. (Note: the airport construction project was
determined by Combined Joint Task Force to be beyond the
PRT's capacity and mission. End note.)


4. (C) While the drumbeat of dissatisfaction with
Qalandarzai had been building for weeks, ANP Chief Qyoum's
departure came more suddenly. Qyoum was considered to be a
strong, operationally effective leader, but he reportedly
paid $50,000 for his job and was allegedly actively trying to
recoup his investment by skimming from fuel budgets and
patrolmen's salaries. According to ANP sources, Qyoum was
slated to be moved to Ghazni. (Note: Ghazni Governor Usmani
told us that he formally lodged his disagreement over the
possible placement of Qyuom as ANP Police Chief in Ghazni
with the Deputy Interior Minister Mangal. As of
mid-November, Qyoum had yet to be re-assigned. End Note.)

AND IN WITH THE NEW
--------------


5. (SBU) Acting Governor Sabari, a Khost native and former
Director of Tribal Affairs, has been active in the Khost
provincial government for years. Born in 1950 (but looking
older, with a long white beard and weathered face),he holds
a B.A. in Law from Khost University. He is a member of the
Sabari tribe (Sabari District is currently the most dangerous
in Khost),and spent time as a mujahid during the Soviet
occupation. While pro-government, Sabari has sometimes been
reluctant to clearly condemn insurgent activity, and is
believed to have some associations with anti-government
elements. He is married, with two sons and six daughters,
and does not speak English. His son Arifullah Pashtun was
the top finisher in the recent Provincial Council elections,

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garnering 15% of the vote.


6. (SBU) In his time in office, acting Governor Sabari has
restored a baseline level of government in Khost. Unlike
previous Governor Qalandarzai, who rarely left his home,
Sabari spends each day at the Governor's Office meeting with
residents and government officials. He chairs weekly
security meetings and bi-weekly administrative meetings, and
hosts monthly Provincial Development Committee meetings
(which are chaired by the Director of Economy per national
policy). He has called district governors in for meetings on
several occasions. He has taken an active role in public
outreach, conducting regular TV and radio interviews on
governance, development, and election security. He has
re-opened, to popular acclaim, a key road near the Governor's
House which had previously been closed for security reasons.


7. (C) Sabari has also effectively dealt with several
challenges involving Coalition Forces (CF) during his first
weeks in office. He was instrumental in limiting fallout
from an incident in which CF mistakenly engaged an illegal
Mangal fighting position on a mountain top in Nadir Shah Kot
District, facilitating a meeting between key Mangal elders
and Coalition representatives to address the incident. On
another occasion, Sabari responded quickly and effectively to
student protests over an alleged incident of Koran
desecration by CF, personally persuading student leaders at
Khost,s Sheikh Zayed University not to expand their
demonstration. In another example, on November 3, a convoy
of residents from eastern Khost approached Khost City to
protest a Coalition operation. Sabari defused the
confrontation by inviting fifteen of the protesters,
representatives to come to the Governors, office to share
their concerns over tea. These instinctive, high-touch
conflict resolution methods demonstrate a deep understanding
of Khost,s culture, and diverge significantly from what many
in Khost characterized as Governor Qalandarzai,s disengaged
approach.


8. (C) COMMENT: Sabari has made no secret of his desire to
stay in the governor's job and expects to stay at least until
a new cabinet is named. He has demonstrated more ability and
appetite to carry out the basic functions of the job than did
his predecessor. Sabari has told PRT and U.S. maneuver
forces that he believes he is well-qualified, but that he
does not have the $200,000-300,000 for a bribe he claims is
required for the position. While he does not have a strong
technical or administrative background, Sabari is a skilled
tribal negotiator and seems to genuinely want to work to
improve governance and provide services to the people of
Khost. Working with him has been a refreshing change. We
will take advantage of his time as acting governor to try to
push through settlement of some land disputes which have been
affecting PRT projects, and to institutionalize more regular
communication than we had with the previous governor. END
COMMENT.
Mussomeli