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DE RUEHBUL #2552/01 1560427
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O 050427Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0647
INFO RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE
RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 0256
RUEHML/AMEMBASSY MANILA 1478
RHEHNSC/NSC WASH DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC//J5/UNMA//
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC//J3//
RUEKJCS/CJCS WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 6027
RUMICEA/USCENTCOM INTEL CEN MACDILL AFB FL
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RHMFISS/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUMICEA/JICCENT MACDILL AFB FL
RHMFIUU/COMSOCCENT MACDILL AFB FL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KABUL 002552 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SA/FO GASTRIGHT, SA/CT AND SA/A 
NSC FOR AHARRIMAN 
STATE PASS USAID FOR AID/ANE, AID/DCHA/DG 
CENTCOM FOR POLAD, CG CFA-A, CG CJTF-76 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV EAID PTER AF
SUBJECT: RECONCILIATION PROGRAM HOLDS CONFERENCE WITH 
PRT'S; COORDINATED FUTURE FUNDING RECOMMENDED 
 
KABUL 00002552  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
SUMMARY: 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  The Independent Commission for the Program for 
Strengthening Peace (PTS) - the Afghan-led reconciliation 
process - held a conference on May 15 with representatives of 
Coalition and ISAF PRTs in order to familiarize them with the 
PTS process and to give the heads of the six regional PTS 
offices a chance to speak with their PRT counterparts in 
small group discussions.  What emerged was that there was no 
coordinated policy on assisting the  regional field offices, 
most of which are without significant resources -  either 
financial or in terms of basic equipment.  In the year since 
its establishment, the PTS has "reconciled" around 1,500 
former Taliban and HiG (Hizb-i Islami (Gulbuddin)) fighters, 
most of them mid- or low-level.  While there are some 
questions about the capability of the PTS staff and concerns 
about their accountability for equipment/funds, as well as 
monitoring of "reconcilees", the amount of money needed to 
keep the program running is quite small in terms of our 
overall assistance budget, and it has removed many potential 
combatants from the battlefield, especially in the eastern 
border regions.  We are working to advance a coordinated 
approach among the Coalition/ISAF PRTs to assist the regional 
offices.  End Summary 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  Marking the first anniversary of its establishment 
by Presidential decree, the Independent Commission of the 
Program for Strengthening Peace (PTS) held a conference at 
the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul on May 15 to inform the 
commanders/personnel of the Provincial Reconstruction Teams 
(PRTs) about the program and its accomplishments, and ask for 
financial and technical support, in particular for its six 
regional offices (in Herat, Kunduz, Paktia, Konar, Kandahar, 
and Nangarhar provinces).  Representatives of CFC-A (Captain 
Kalb), NATO (Senior Civilian Representative Hekmet Cetin), 
and ISAF (Major General Chris Brown) gave strong opening 
statements supporting the work of the Commission.  The 
President of the PTS Commission, Professor Sigbatullah 
Mujaddidi (also the speaker of the upper house of Parliament) 
addressed the group of about 80 people, initially in Dari, 
but making his closing remarks in English. "We defend your 
lives, not only our lives.  My enemies, especially the ISI of 
Pakistan are behind me to assassinate me - I hear reports (of 
death threats against me) every week" from Pakistanis who 
don't like the program's success or the fact that he 
(Mujaddidi) supports the Karzai government. Lamenting that 
the USG spends "$7,000 for every Afghan" while the PTS 
receives only $100,000, he appealed for more generosity from 
the international community. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  The PTS Chief of Staff Haji Akram noted that six 
regional offices had opened during the past year.  The 
Commission would like to open an additional four offices, but 
doesn't have the money to do so at the present time.  The PTS 
staff also appealed for funding for holding more conferences 
within and outside of Afghanistan to explain their program, 
as well as for visiting Europe and the U.S. to educate the 
international community, and money to establish a monthly 
magazine. 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  The attendees then broke up into small groups, 
based on regional PTS office locations.  Group members 
discussed how to improve cooperation between the PTS offices 
and the PRTs, and shared results with the entire audience. 
In the Paktia group, the head of the Gardez regional office, 
Habibullah Mangal, presented a list of equipment which the 
regional headquarters needed - office furniture, furniture 
for their guesthouse, two vehicles, one motorcycle, 
 
KABUL 00002552  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
walkie-talkies, mobile phones, a medium sized generator, and 
video and digital cameras.  The Gardez office covered four 
provinces (Logar, Paktika, Paktia and Khost) and three PRTs, 
but had varying degrees of contact with each of them - 
ranging from weekly meetings in Paktia, to almost no contact 
with the Khost PRT.  Mangal said that the Gardez office, in 
the nine months since it opened, had reconciled 360 Taliban 
and HiG fighters, about equal numbers from each of the 
provinces, which was an excellent result for a small outlay 
of money (these figures were confirmed by the former PRToff 
in Gardez, who had worked with Mangal to start the program). 
PRToff noted that the type of equipment requested by the PTS 
office was not that expensive in the overall scheme of things 
and that, unlike other money spent, it had the advantage of 
reaping quick results - by bringing fighters off the 
battlefield immediately. 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  Professor Musa Maroufi, a consultant to the PTS 
Commission, summarized the conclusions of the conference. Two 
major themes emerged: the need for additional logistic and 
financial resources, and the importance of coordination among 
all components of the PTS and the PRTs.  While cooperation 
between the central and regional PTS offices and the PRTs 
appeared to be good, the Herat and Kandahar PRTs provided 
significant material support in the form of vehicles, 
computers, and furniture, while the others had not, giving 
rise to a certain amount of resentment about this disparity, 
and requests that similar resources be provided to all 
offices.  The second point was that financial assistance 
should be increased and provided directly to the PTS program 
and not via the GoA, as is currently the case. The group 
requested the establishment of an ad-hoc committee consisting 
of representatives from ISAF, NATO, and Coalition Forces to 
deal specifically with the needs of the Commission in 
provinces where there is an ISAF/CFC-A presence, but no PRT. 
The group also requested help to publish a monthly magazine 
to explain the program to people in their regions.  All 
participants felt the conference was a worthwhile exchange, 
allowing many PRT and regional officials to establish contact 
for the first time, and recommended that it be held on a 
regular basis. 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  In order to facilitate cooperation among PTS 
offices, the local government and the PRT, it was suggested 
that regional PTS officials attend the weekly security 
meetings which include ANP. ANA, NDS, and PRT 
representatives. In addition, they would benefit from 
participating in the monthly provincial coordination meetings 
which normally include the governor, as well as provincial 
representatives from GoA ministries, the UN, NGO's and the 
PRT. 
 
¶7.  COMMENT:  It has been difficult to obtain clarity on the 
amount and sources of funding for the PTS program.  CFC-A 
contributed USD 325,000 in 2005 to help establish the PTS 
Commission's Kabul headquarters and the six regional offices, 
providing them with vehicles, computers and training.  They 
have requested additional money for further support, but this 
has not yet been approved.  Money to pay salaries and 
recurring expenses appears to come entirely from U.S. and 
U.K. sources, and is passed to the PTS Commission through the 
Office of the National Security Council;  NSC staff was not 
sure where the funds came from, but said that they totaled 
around USD 70,000 per month.  Members of the PTS Commission 
have complained that the payments are often late, forcing 
them to dip into their own resources to keep the program 
going.  It is also not clear how long this funding will 
continue - there was some talk at the May 20 weekly meeting 
 
KABUL 00002552  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
between the Commission, the NSC and CFC-A and ISAF that money 
had only been promised for the program's first year, which 
has just drawn to a close.  What does seem clear is that the 
regional offices see very little of this money, and that they 
are the most effective means, especially when they work 
closely with activist governors and PRTs, to bring in 
disaffected Taliban and HiG fighters.  At the May 20 
coordination meeting, the ISAF representative said that there 
was no single ISAF policy on supporting the PTS program - 
each PRT supporting country, and indeed all NATO members, 
would develop their own.  Also at this meeting, CFC-A said 
that it would work with the Commission to start a monthly 
informational magazine. 
 
¶8.  COMMENT (CONT'D)  While post is aware that there are some 
accounting difficulties regarding the Commission's 
expenditures, we believe that the PTS program is worth our 
continued support, particularly at the regional level, and 
that more funding should be considered to open the four 
additional regional offices which the Commission has asked 
for.  Using CERP funds to provide regional offices with 
needed equipment would cost relatively little and could bear 
potentially large dividends.  In the meantime, this is 
another area where Coalition and ISAF PRTs need to establish 
closer liaison, although ISAF and CFC-A have initiated a 
weekly meeting to discuss better coordination. 
NEUMANN