VZCZCXRO7678
OO RUEHWEB
DE RUEHBUL #5888/01 3520946
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 180946Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4951
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUMICEA/JICCENT MACDILL AFB FL
RHMFISS/COMSOCCENT MACDILL AFB FL
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 3424
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 3395

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 005888 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/FO DAS GASTRIGHT, SCA/A, S/CRS, S/CT, EUR/RPM 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR AID/ANE, AID/DCHA/DG 
NSC FOR AHARRIMAN 
OSD FOR KIMMITT 
CENTCOM FOR CFC-A, CG CJTF-76, POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/17/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KJUSAF AF
SUBJECT: ATTORNEY GENERAL SABIT DISCUSSES CORRUPTION, RULE 
OF LAW WITH CODEL MCCAIN 
 
KABUL 00005888  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Ronald Neumann, for reasons 1.4 (B), (D). 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: The Ambassador and the 
Congressional delegation led by Senator John 
McCain met with Attorney General Sabit on the 
evening of December 15th. Sabit cited the absence 
of the Rule of Law in Afghanistan as the root of 
other key problems such as drugs, terrorism and 
corruption.  Sabit noted that his visits to 
provinces with accompanying arrests are an attempt 
to spread the Rule of Law outside of Kabul. The 
delegation praised Sabit for his efforts but 
encouraged him to develop a strategic plan and 
prioritize his targets, since he lacks the 
resources to prosecute all offenders. Sabit wants 
to establish a separate special tribunal for 
corruption. Ambassador Neumann said the AG must 
form a common front with the Chief Justice on this 
issue or risk dividing the international community 
and weakening progress for reform. End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U)  Sabit cited as the key problem affecting 
Afghanistan the lack of Rule of Law (ROL), and 
said that establishing the ROL is the key to 
combating narcotics, corruption and terrorism. 
That is why he has been making his provincial 
visits (seven thus far) with investigating 
prosecutors, in order to "bring the ROL to the 
provinces."  He talked about those visits and 
described them with relative degrees of success, 
ranging from very little (Mazar-e-Sharif) to more 
than 50 arrests resulting from his most recent 
trip to Nangahar, Konar and Laghman. 
 
¶3. (C) Sabit cited a number of instances where the 
provincial governors had undermined his efforts, 
either because the governor himself was involved 
in corruption or because he was protecting one of 
his political supporters. He expressed the desire 
for more support from President Karzai, but he now 
has more appreciation for Karzai,s position than 
he did initially.  Though he has requested the 
U.S. (via DEA), as well as units of the GOA, to 
provide him with targets for prosecution in the 
Criminal Joint Task Force (CJTF), he himself 
expressed a desire for starting with "soft 
targets."  The Ambassador promised that he would 
give his support to Sabit in approaching Karzai 
for prosecution with the DEA-referred cases. 
 
¶4. (U) Because of the corruption he has 
encountered in the provinces and among provincial 
judges, Sabit has been trying to get the Chief 
Justice to agree to a change in venue to Kabul for 
the most significant cases, where they can be more 
closely monitored. However, he says he can not do 
this in every case. (Note: Sabit informed the 
Embassy the following day that the Chief Justice 
had denied his attempt to change the venue of the 
cases filed in Nangahar Province. We are seeking 
the Chief Justice,s views and caution against any 
immediate interpretation.  End note.) 
 
¶5. (C) For a number of reasons, including the 
change of venue problem, Sabit would like to 
establish an anti-corruption task force modeled 
after the CJTF, including a special court. He can 
do this without significant financial aid from the 
international community, but he feels that he 
needs the Ambassador,s support in order to 
persuade Karzai to approve the proposal. The 
Ambassador made it clear that he is intrigued by 
the idea but wanted Sabit to discuss the matter 
 
KABUL 00005888  002 OF 002 
 
 
first with the Chief Justice. The Ambassador told 
Sabit that he and Chief Justice Azimi are the "two 
bright hopes" for judicial reform in Afghanistan 
and they must present a united front. Otherwise, 
the international community will divide between 
them and President Karzai will be caught in the 
middle. (Note: Sabit had previously proposed such 
a tribunal when he was an advisor in the MOI and 
Chief Justice Azimi was an advisor to Karzai. At 
the time, Azimi had opposed the idea.  The 
proposal will also be discussed at a working lunch 
on December 17 with Sabit that will be hosted by 
the Italian Ambassador and include the U.S. and 
the U.K. Sabit constantly shops for international 
support for his ideas alone. While in some cases 
this is warranted, his desire to play the judicial 
reform game by himself will undercut his support 
if he and the Chief Justice can not agree.) 
 
¶6. (C) If and when cases are brought against 
particularly hard targets, Sabit supported the 
idea of extraditing them to the U.S. or another 
country, which he thought would have a more 
deterrent impact on other offenders and would 
avoid any possibility of corruption that might 
arise with an Afghan prosecution, even in the 
Counter-Narcotics Tribunal. 
 
¶7. (C) Sabit discussed the upcoming deadline of 
his demand for payment for land in the "thieves, 
district" (Sherpur) of Kabul, a large expanse of 
prime residential land from which the residents 
were pushed off and their houses demolished in 
2003 in order to provide housing sites for 
government VIPs, including some who are now 
Ministers.  While he had been confident of 
securing these payments just a few days earlier, 
Sabit cited increasing pressure being put on both 
him and Karzai as the deadline approaches and as 
the landowners prepare to challenge his demands in 
the Supreme Court. 
 
¶8. (U) Senator McCain and other members of the 
delegation expressed their strong support for 
Sabit and the work that he was doing. They 
emphasized the need for a comprehensive strategy 
and the prioritization of targets.  Sabit noted 
the presence of a visiting U.S. Justice Department 
team that was here this week to assess the anti- 
corruption problem and that would be recommending 
measures to Sabit to combat it. Sabit said that 
his provincial visits would continue to be a key 
part of any strategy. He thanks the USG for the 
support it is providing in armored cars, training 
of his security personnel and the embedded INL and 
DOJ personnel. 
 
¶9. (U) The Codel did not have the opportunity to 
clear this cable before departing Kabul. 
NEUMANN