This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KABUL 000091 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR SA/FO AMBASSADOR QUINN, S/CT, SA/A 
NSC FOR AHARRIMAN, KAMEND 
CENTCOM FOR POLAD, CG CFC-A, CG CJTF-76 
TREASURY FOR LMCDONALD, WBALDRIDGE, APARAMESWARAN, ABAUKOL 
STATE PLEASE PASS USAID 
USAID FOR AID/ANE, AID/DCHA/DG 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR KDEM AF
SUBJECT: MP BIO: ABDUL RASUL SAYYAF 
 
¶1. (U) This is the second in a series of biographic reporting 
cables on Afghanistan's newly elected Parliamentarians. 
Additional reports will be sent as EMBOFFS continue to meet 
personally with new MPs during the coming weeks. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Summary: Amb and POLOFF met with Abdul Rasul Sayyaf 
on 3 January to seek his views on the newly-inaugurated 
Parliament.  Dealing with Sayyaf is a trip through the last 
three decades of Afghan history.  At the center of many of 
the country's major political events, Sayyaf's role has been 
a controversial one, and  he is allegedly the perpetrator of 
many of the country's worst human rights abuses.  The picture 
he chooses to present today is that of the venerable and wise 
old politician who wants to continue his service to the 
nation, even as a simple MP.  He believes that Parliament has 
a vital role to play in the future of the  country, and 
claims that Afghanistan still requires western assistance to 
ensure its security.  End summary. 
 
Troubled Political Waters 
------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Abdul Rasul Sayyaf is one of Afghanistan's more 
controversial political leaders, with a reputation for excess 
and brutality throughout many years of conflict 
against the Soviet occupation and the Taliban. It almost 
wasn't so, and one can envisage Sayyaf as the statesman and 
scholar he apparently sees in himself.  His 
education includes two years in Cairo's Al Azar University, 
and he speaks Arabic fluently. His English is also very good. 
An accident of timing was all it took to set 
him on the path of political violence.  In 1974 he studied 
English in order to be able to continue his legal studies in 
the United States, and was actually en route to 
the Kabul Airport to start his student life in America when 
he was arrested by President Daoud's security forces.  He 
stayed in jail for six years, and was actively involved in 
the conflict in Afghanistan from his release until the 
departure of the Taliban.  He continues to play a central 
role in today's politics. 
 
¶4. (SBU) In many ways Sayyaf is the perfect example of Afghan 
warlord against whom there is now so much criticism.  At the 
same time, he has significant popular support.  In the 
Parliamentary elections, he came in as the fifth ranking 
candidate (out of thirty three winners) from Kabul Province, 
taking a total of 9806 votes.  Many people believed that 
Sayyaf was Karzai's choice to be Speaker in the Wolesi Jirga 
(Note: In the political rumor mill Karzai is also reputed to 
have originally supported Rabbani for the position, and then 
to have met with Qanooni for a pre-selection talk.  It is 
possible that each of the three thought he had the 
President's support. End note.) Sayyaf was openly supported 
in his Speaker bid by Hazara leader Haji Mohammed Mohaqiq, 
himself a would-be Speaker candidate, surprising many 
observers who had assumed a political divide between these 
Shi'ite and Sunni leaders.  After all, it was the parties 
represented by these 
two men which had been mainly responsible for the destruction 
of Kabul in the 1990s.  In the end, Sayyaf lost to Qanooni by 
a very slim margin, but may have scored a significant victory 
by showing that he was willing to court Hazara support for 
his candidacy. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The Sayyaf residence in Wazir Akbar Khan 
neighborhood near the Embassy was well-guarded but modestly 
and plainly furnished.  It was clear that despite his 
alleged wealth, Sayyaf does not practice ostentation.  He 
spoke English carefully but with fluency, and expressed 
pleasure at meeting with the U.S. officials.  A 
note-taker, Noor Mohammed Hassanzai, Political Advisor to the 
Dawaat-e-Islami, was also present for the meeting. 
 
The New Politics of Moderation 
------------------------------ 
 
¶6. (SBU) Sayyaf said that the Parliament was getting better 
day by day, and that he and his supporters had decided to 
cooperate fully with the Speaker in order to ensure the 
Parliament's success.  He stressed that the Parliament 
belonged to every member, and that they all shared 
responsibility for its success.  Sayyaf claimed that the 
Speaker election had been fair, and that "to win or lose is 
part of the political game."  Stressing his full support for 
Qanooni, he gave the new Speaker a left 
handed compliment by noting that he himself could accept the 
results of losing, but he wasn't sure if Qanooni could. 
(Note: A probable reference to Qanooni's very emotional 
public reaction to being removed from his position as 
Interior Minister in 2002 and getting the less-prestigious 
Education portfolio in its place. 
End note.) 
 
¶7. (SBU) Sayyaf emphasized his desire to avoid ethnic, party 
and regional rivalry in the new Parliament, and said that he 
had already made two speeches extolling unity. 
He believed that it was premature to try to form political 
groups in the Parliament, since the MPs still did not know 
each other well enough, but that eventually there 
would be 6 or 7 such groupings, each with 24 or so members, 
in addition to a larger central group. Even with such groups, 
however, he said that the unity of the 
Parliament was critical. 
 
The Role of Parliament 
---------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Sayyaf saw the MPs as being very important in the 
country's future, saying that Parliamentary delegations could 
be used to handle problems in the outlying districts. Twenty 
MPs were more powerful, he said, than two army divisions. 
The Parliament would be a bridge between Afghanistan and the 
rest of the world, and 
it could help the government's programs by its approval, or 
by constructive criticism, all "in an atmosphere of consensus 
and understanding." 
 
The Western Presence 
-------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Asked if the Parliament would raise the issue of the 
coalition forces staying in Afghanistan, Sayyaf noted that 
there were many other topics which would be 
treated first, including review of laws, approval of the 
Cabinet, etc.  Even when the topic was broached, it would be 
"a calm discussion" he said.  It was still too 
early for the coalition to leave Afghanistan. There were 
outside dangers which threatened the country's security, and 
neighbors were still hostile.  "They moved," 
he said in reference to Russia, "like water under the grass." 
 Asked if he had met with Russian officials, he said that the 
only ones he had met were those he had 
captured. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Sayyaf stressed that Afghanistan still needed 
assistance in standing on its own feet, and in setting up a 
proper army and police force. If the coalition left, he said, 
Afghanistan would have a repetition of the old in-fighting. 
The last time, he noted, this resulted in the Taliban taking 
power, and now some other group would 
seize power. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) Whether he is sincere or not, Sayyaf expressed the 
same call for unity and cooperation that other prominent 
politicians are proclaiming.  Although one 
hesitates to refer to guilty consciences, these leaders may 
realize that it was their ethnic, party and religious 
differences which resulted in the deaths of many 
thousands of Afghans in the period of civil strife following 
the jihad, and the almost total destruction of that section 
of the city where the Parliament building 
now stands.  Perhaps it is seeing the many wrecked public 
buildings and the ruins of once bustling neighborhoods as 
they drive through West Kabul to the Parliament that makes 
them now call for moderation and unity.  If they continue to 
speak, and to act, in this vein, there is greater hope that 
the Parliament will be a 
success.  End comment. 
NEUMANN