VZCZCXRO8334
OO RUEHDBU RUEHIK RUEHYG
DE RUEHBUL #3454 2141432
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 021432Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1704
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC//J5/UNMA//
RHMFIUU/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC//J3//
RUEKJCS/CJCS WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL

UNCLAS KABUL 003454 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SCA/FO DAS GASTRIGHT, SCA/RA, SCA/A, S/CT 
NSC FOR AHARRIMAN 
CENTCOM FOR POLAD, CG CFC-A, CG CJTF-76 
STATE PASS USAID FOR AID/ANE AND AID/CDHA/DG 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR AF
SUBJECT: NOMINATIONS OF FIVE NEW CABINET MEMBERS ANNOUNCED 
 
¶1.  (U) The nominations of five new cabinet members were 
announced by the Presidential Palace on the afternoon of 
August 2.  The nominations are for the Ministries of 
Commerce, Culture and Information, Economy, Transportation, 
and Women's Affairs. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The Minister of Commerce nominee is Dr. Mir 
Mohammad Amin Farhang.  Farhang served as Minister of Economy 
until his nomination for that post was rejected by the 
Parliament.  He may be rejected for this post as well.  If he 
is confirmed, his lack of English language skills will make 
it difficult for him to run a technical Ministry staffed at 
the policy level largely by English-speaking consultants. 
His confirmation could set back Embassy efforts to advance 
priority commercial legislation which has predominantly been 
drafted in English.  The Ministry of Economy basically 
floundered under his leadership, ending up essentially 
without a clear portfolio. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The Minister of Culture and Information nominee is 
Abdul Karim Khurram.  Khurram is currently an advisor to 
Karzai on media relations.  He is seen as a close ally of 
Karzai.  Khurram received an advanced degree in political 
economy in France and taught the same subject at Afghan 
University in Peshawar and had regular contacts with the 
United States Information Service there.  Khurram is reported 
to have had ties to Hekmatyar's Hezb-i-Islami under the early 
days of the Mujahideen movement.  He is the brother of 
Engineer Abdul Rahim Khurram, another contact of the Public 
Affairs Section. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) The Minister of Economy nominee is Mohammad Jalil 
Shams.  Shams is currently the Deputy Minister for Energy and 
Water.  Generally regarded as a competent and hard-working 
administrator, his departure will be a big loss for the 
Ministry of Energy and Water.  He has had serious health 
issues recently and only just returned from medical treatment 
in Switzerland for a heart condition.  Shams participated in 
the recent US Trade and Development Agency regional 
conference on energy in Istanbul in June.  He studied 
economics in Egypt and Germany in the 1960s.  He is 
considered an able technocrat and is definitely someone 
willing to work with the Embassy.  He speaks English. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) The Minister of Transportation nominee is 
Niamatullah Ehsan Jawid.  Jawid is currently the Airport 
Manager at Kabul International Airport.  He participated in 
our Fulbright Program from 2005 to 2006 at the University of 
Washington.  He studied the economics of air transportation 
in Germany for his B.A. in the mid-1980s.  He served at the 
Ministry of Civil Aviation in the late 80s and as the 
Transportation Director of the Ministry of Planning in the 
early 90s.  From 2000 to 2003, he worked in mid-level 
administrative positions for UNAMA.  He is well-known to the 
Embassy and generally pro-U.S.  While he has a decent 
technical background, he is heavily indebted to and may be 
easily swayed by his political backers in Parliament.  He is 
unlikely to make tough, unpopular (but necessary) decisions. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The Minister of Women's Affairs nominee is Hassan 
Bano Ghanzanfar.  Ghanzanfar, currently the Dean of the 
Literature Faculty of Kabul University comes from a wealthy 
Uzbek family from Mazar-e-Sharif.  Ghanzanfar received a PhD 
in Russia in literature.  She attended the Embassy's 
Independence Day celebrations in Western dress and expressed 
to several Emboffs her keenness to build her relationship 
with the U.S. Embassy.  She has been active in the field of 
women's rights since the fall of the Taliban. 
NEUMANN