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DE RUEHBUL #2291/01 1410729
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 210729Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0329
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 002291 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/FO, SCA/A, S/CRS, SCA/PAB, S/CT, EUR/RPM 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR AID/ANE, AID/DCHA/DG 
NSC FOR AHARRIMAN, KAMEND 
OSD FOR BREZINSKI 
CENTCOM FOR CG CFC-A, CG CJTF-76 POLAD 
TREASURY FOR D/S KIMMITT, APARAMESWARAN, AJEWELL 
COMMERCE FOR AADLER 
TRANSPORTATION FOR MODESITT 
REL NATO/ISAF/AS/NZ 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/22/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER ASEC ECON EAID KCRS ELTN SP
TU, AF 
SUBJECT: PRT/QAL I NOW: RING ROAD IN BADGHIS 
 
REF: KABUL 2214 
 
Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D) 
 
¶1. (C)  SUMMARY: The Spanish Agency for International 
Cooperation (AECI) recently began construction of a road from 
the Sabsak pass, on the border between Herat and Badghis 
provinces, to Qal I Now, the capital of Badghis.  This 
stretch will form part of the Afghanistan Ring Road.  A 
95-kilometer segment from Qal I Now to Bala Murghab, also in 
Badghis, and a 32-kilometer stretch in Herat, are the only 
parts of the Ring Road either not built or without 
international commitments for construction.  Post is working 
with Amembassy Madrid to encourage Spain to do more in road 
building efforts (reftel).  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (U)  The Afghanistan Ring Road, when completed, will 
circumscribe the center of the country and will be 2,227 
kilometers in length.  According to Dr. Rasooli, Deputy 
Minister of Public Works in charge of roads, 1500 kilometers 
have now been built.  There are international commitments to 
build the remainder, with the exception of 32 kilometers in 
Herat province and 95 kilometers in Badghis. 
 
¶3. (U)  With no good roads to adjacent provinces, Qal I Now 
and Badghis province have suffered relative economic 
isolation.  Until improvement and asphalting last year of a 
61-kilometer, Iranian-financed stretch of the Ring Road 
between Herat and Armalek, 43 kilometers from the Sabsak pass 
on the border between Herat and Badghis, travel between Qal I 
Now and Herat, a distance of 150 kilometers, took more than 
eight hours.  Travel time is now about five hours.  When the 
Spanish PRT was established in May 2005, Spanish development 
officials identified an improved road linking Herat and Qal I 
Now as a prerequisite to Badghis development.  Spanish 
engineers designed a 58-kilometer road from Qal I Now to the 
Sabsak pass, to be built with AECI funds, on and adjacent to 
the existing dirt road.  There are no plans as yet for 
improvements of the road between Armalek and Sabsak, which 
would be the last stretch of unimproved road between Herat 
and Qal I Now. 
 
¶4. (U) Spanish development personnel presented plans for the 
Qal I Now-Sabsak road to Badghis authorities last year.  The 
Spanish at that time had no communication with Ministry of 
Public Works officials in Kabul; they assumed their plans 
would be forwarded to Kabul by Badghis officials.  Until a 
meeting with Dr. Rasooli in March, they were unaware this 
stretch of road was part of the Afghan master plan for the 
Ring Road.  Dr. Rasooli also informed them that their project 
does not meet Ring Road specifications which call for an 
asphalted road 7 meters in width with at least 1 1/2 
meter-wide shoulders.  The un-asphalted Spanish road will be 
6 meters wide with 1 meter shoulders. 
 
¶5. (U)  The Spanish began construction of the Qal I 
Now-Sabsak road in March, shortly after meeting with Dr. 
Rasooli, using their original plans.  Widening the road would 
have required removal of a number of houses that abut the 
road; further AECI has not allocated sufficient funds to 
asphalt it.  Development officials told Dr. Rasooli that, 
should funds become available, they would consider improving 
it to Ring Road standards.  Spanish officials maintain that 
 
KABUL 00002291  002 OF 002 
 
 
with the construction to Spanish specifications, the road 
will be useable by all types of traffic throughout the year. 
(Comment: Because of inadequate maintenance and higher than 
expected traffic, many of the more robust asphalt roads built 
by donors throughout the country are experiencing substantial 
wear and may soon be in need of improvements.  Embassy and 
AID officials do not believe that an un-asphalted road will 
last very long.  End Comment.) 
 
¶6. (U)  The 95-kilometer Ring Road segment from Qal I Now to 
Bala Murghab and the 32-kilometer segment from Armalek to 
Sabsak are the only remaining parts of the Ring Road without 
international funding commitments.  In conversations with 
Ambassador Neumann, Spanish Foreign Minister Moratinos and 
Spanish Ambassador to Afghanistan Turpin have indicated GoS 
interest in collaborating with the U.S. and possibly Turkey 
on funding and building the road from Qal I Now to Bala 
Murghab.  However, according to AECI, which normally 
coordinated international development funding commitments, 
Spain has no plans for road building in Afghanistan other 
than the Qal I Now-Sabsak road now under construction.  Dr. 
Rasooli told us he is anxious to find funding for the 
Armalek-Sabsak and Qal I Now-Bala Murghab segments of the 
Ring Road and is working with the Ministry of Finance to find 
donors. 
 
¶7. (C)  Comment:  Completion of the Qal I Now-Sabsak stretch 
will cut driving time between Qal I Now and Herat 
substantially and facilitate commerce between Herat and 
Badghis provinces.  The Spanish project has drawn high 
interest from Badghis residents; many are upset that the road 
will not be asphalted as is the Iranian-built portion of the 
Ring Road between Herat and Armalek.  Embassy and AID 
officials agree that the unasphalted road will wear rapidly. 
Post is working with the Spanish Ambassador Turpin and 
Embassy Madrid to develop a bureaucratic strategy to gain 
additional Spanish funds to build additional road networks. 
End Comment. 
NEUMANN