LAGHMAN GOVERNOR REFLECTS ON TENURE, PROGRESS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 000631 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR SRAP, SCA/FO, SCA/A, EUR/RPM, INR/B STATE PASS USAID FOR ASIA/SCAA USFOR-A FOR POLAD E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/20/2020 TAGS: PGOV ECON MOPS AF PK SUBJECT: LAGHMAN GOVERNOR REFLECTS ON TENURE, PROGRESS Classified By: Interagency Provincial Affairs Deputy Director Hoyt Yee for Reasons 1.4(b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary. Looking back at his 22-month term as Laghman governor, Lutfullah Mashal claimed slow but obvious progress in the province, including more children in schools and a bustling economy in Mehtarlam. He expressed concern about renewal of violent factional conflict if a new governor was too closely tied to one of the province,s power blocs. Laghmanis have a highly developed sense of self-importance, said Mashal, and demand that elected officials give them individual attention. Mashal identified eight individuals as especially important in forming public opinion in the province. End summary. ¶2. (SBU) Laghman governor Lutfullah Mashal met with Laghman Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) and Agribusiness Development Team (ADT) on February 9 to discuss the province,s security situation and its POLITICAL and economic development during his term in office. ¶3. (C) Mashal recognized that he would not continue as governor in Laghman or any other province. He said he was looking forward to enjoying life in Kabul, although he declined to speculate on his POLITICAL future. However, he reflected with pride on his 22 months in office (he assumed the position in April 2008),claiming that although there had been ups and downs, the province was measurably better off: "the streets of Mehtarlam are now crowded" due to economic progress, reflecting the fact that "people are moving back here, even from Kabul." Most important for Mashal was his claim that the number of children in school had increased significantly, reflecting the number of returnees and the quality of Laghman,s teachers. ¶4. (C) Asked to describe the kind of person who should follow him as governor, Mashal stated emphatically that the next governor should not come from Laghman, and should not be tied to any of the province,s power blocs. Mashal said that, while the anti-government insurgency was not strong in the province, there was something akin to a permanent "civil war" between various factions in Laghman. The two most dangerous were those acting under the name of Jamiat-e-Islami (JI) and Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin (HIG). In Mashal,s view, any prospective governor with ties to Laghman would necessarily be partial to one or another of these groups, and would therefore likely inflame the area,s tendencies toward violence. According to Mashal, Alishang and Dawlat Shah were "mixed JI and HIG," although HIG in Dawlat Shah was especially strong. Alingar was "mostly HIG," while Qarghayi was "totally HIG" and Mehtarlam was "totally JI." ¶5. (C) Likewise, according to Mashal, the next governor should not be identified with Afghanistan,s communist party, since locals would never accept anyone with such a history. He claimed that when Gulab Mangal served as governor, his office received rocket fire regularly due to Mangal,s alleged communist history. He said that there were two different kinds of former communists working in government now, one known as Parchams and the other called Khalqs. According to Mashal, the Parchams became communists due to training by the Soviets (or their successors),and now tended to occupy positions in the National Directorate of Security (NDS). Theirs was a particularly bloody and disreputable past, said Mashal, with at least 70,000 deaths at the hands of the Soviet-era NDS. (He hinted broadly that deputy governor Murtaza Qalandarzai had been affiliated with Soviet-trained Parchams during his nine years with NDS in Nangarhar). On the other hand, the Khalqs tended to be have come from rural-based social reformers, and now congregated in the Afghan National Army (ANA) and the Afghan National Police (ANP). ¶6. (C) Speaking about the challenges of government in Laghman, Mashal said that any new governor needed to have "passion," which he claimed was an important part of Laghmani culture, and a necessary quality for a governor to form relationships. In Mashal,s view, locals have such a high degree of self-importance that they demand personal attention regardless of their social status ) Mashal claimed he met with 100 locals every day in the office, including "barbers, butchers, cooks, elders, everyone." "If you do not give them the respect they demand, they will turn on you quickly." A governor should not be "too aggressive, or snobbish." Warming to the subject of the Laghmanis, legendary trickiness, he said Laghmanis were "shameless" about telling contradictory stories, and claimed that he often videotaped meetings so he could impeach interlocutors with prior contradictory statements (although he added that his interlocutors were usually unfazed by such evidence). ¶7. (C) Mashal alleged that an alliance had recently been formed between supporters of Afghan Border Police (ABP) General Zaman, who he identified with JI, and Laghman wolesi jirga member Engineer Qarar, who is tied to HIG. Such an KABUL 00000631 002 OF 002 alliance came despite years of enmity between the two factions, including "dozens" of kidnappings of the leaders, family members. Mashal stressed the importance of mullahs in ordinary Laghmanis, lives. They are the first male to see a baby after it is born, and the last person to see a body as it is put into the grave. In Mashal,s view, mullahs were vital opinion makers, so much so that he alleged ANP provincial commander General Omaryar had paid certain mullahs to preach that killing an ANP officer was as bad as "killing a mullah while praying," while certain Taliban commanders had retaliated by paying others to preach that killing an ANP officer was "as good as praying five times." ¶8. (C) Mashal claimed the new Provincial Council (PC)is a vast improvement over the previous one. He noted that old political rival Gulzar Sangarwal (who in a December 8, 2009 Washington Post article accused the governor of corruption) seemed to be much less influential now, and failed to attend the most recent PC meeting. Mashal said that most provincial line directors were competent, although he singled out the tribal affairs and refugee affairs directors as "weak." He repeated the allegation that tribal affairs director Naqibullah had gone into hiding (allegedly under the protection of Engineer Mohammed Alim Qarar) after having been sentenced in absentia to prison for improper land deals. According to Mashal, an unnamed cabinet minister had requested Naqibullah,s reinstatement after a visit from five parliamentarians, but Mashal had declined the request, stating that a reinstatement following a criminal conviction would require a court order. ¶9. (C) Mashal ended the discussion by identifying Laghman,s most influential people, who included: Provincial Council chairman Malim Malang, who Mashal claimed is tied to JI; Alishang district subgovernor Qasim Mohamed; Malik Noor Mohamed, tied to HIG, and a provincial peace jirga member from Alingar district; Haji Naqib, tied to JI, and a provincial peace jirga member from Mehtarlam; Qari Roghullah, tied to JI, and chief mullah of Mehtarlam,s central mosque, and a regional peace jirga representative; Agha Mujadidi, from Dawlat Shah, and chairman of the provincial peace and stability agency; Haji Shamard, tied to HIG, and a provincial peace jirga member from Qarghayi; and Wokil Nadir Khan, "a leader of the Pashai and Tajiks" from Ghaziabad in Alishang. ¶10. (C) Comment. Mashal appeared relaxed and rather happy to be leaving Laghman. Although his evaluation of his own accomplishments and POLITICAL acumen must be taken with a grain of salt, by all accounts the local economy has expanded greatly in the last two years. And despite the upsurge in IED activity, the general security situation has improved notably following a series of raids and arrests of those allegedly responsible for the assassination of NDS deputy Dr. Abdullah Laghmani in September, and the near-successful dispatch of a large truck bomb to Mehtarlam in December. Mashal seems to be leaving on something of a high note. End comment. Eikenberry