ATMAR UNDER PRESSURE FOR NEW ANSARI HAWALA CASE

C O N F I D E N T I A L KABUL 000575 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/13/2020 TAGS: PGOV EFIN KTFN KCOR KCRM SNAR AF SUBJECT: ATMAR UNDER PRESSURE FOR NEW ANSARI HAWALA CASE REF: A) Kabul 455 B) Kabul 124 (Notal) and previous Classified by: Acting Deputy Ambassador Joseph A. Mussomeli; Reasons 1.4 (b) & (d). ¶1. (C) In a February 2 courtesy call on Interior Minister Hanif Atmar by visiting Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Gil Kerlikowske, Ambassador Wayne thanked Atmar for his firmness on recent money laundering cases (Ref B). Atmar responded that the January 14 search of two New Ansari network hawala branches and one New Ansari Thuraya shop had cost him politically. "These are powerful people, and they raise hell." But, Atmar continued, it was important to have the courage to stop them, and to address the problem systematically. The culprits complained about "being singled out as Pashtuns from Kandahar," he continued, but efforts to address this problem need to start somewhere. Without tackling the issue of illicit finance, Afghanistan would not be able to put an end to the insurgency, he stated. ¶2. (C) Atmar said he had urged DEA to accelerate its work with MOI on other illicit finance cases because it was important to demonstrate to President Karzai and others that the New Ansari enforcement action was not evidence of a bias against Kandaharis or Pashtuns, as New Ansari's supporters have been telling Karzai and others. Atmar suggested that the USG take a low profile on the New Ansari case for the time being, in part because his critics were alleging that this action was taken by "the American Minister" (Atmar) at the behest of the United States. It was important to demonstrate Afghan leadership and that this was a critical issue of concern to Afghanistan, he stressed. ¶3. (C) Ambassador Wayne responded that executives from the New Ansari subsidiary Afghan United Bank (AUB) had sought a meeting with him, and that it would take place shortly (see Ref A for report of that meeting). Wayne said that he intended to emphasize, inter alia, that Afghanistan has a system of financial rules in place that everyone needs to follow and that need to be enforced. Atmar replied that he had told New Ansari officials, who had come to see him the previous day, that if they would commit not to engage in illicit practices again and cooperate in helping locate other money-launderers "it would affect my ability to forgive." ¶4. (C) Comment: This exchange follows other reports by Atmar and other sources of pressure that President Karzai and others have exerted on the Interior Minister (septel) in the Cabinet and otherwise as a result of the New Ansari case. End Comment. EIKENBERRY