VZCZCXRO7094
OO RUEHDBU RUEHIK RUEHPW RUEHYG
DE RUEHBUL #2068/01 1781154
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 271154Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8841
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 002068 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/FO DAS GASTRIGHT, SCA/A 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR AID/ANE, AID/DCHA/DG 
NSC FOR HARRIMAN 
OSD FOR SHIVERS 
CENTCOM FOR CG CFC-A, CG CJTF-82 POLAD 
RELEASABLE TO NATO/AUST/NZ/ISAF 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV SNAR PHUM PTER EAID AF
SUBJECT: PRT BAMYAN: AMBASSADOR ASSESSES DEVELOPMENT AND 
SECURITY 
 
REF: KABUL 1812 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  During his introductory visit to 
Bamyan Province, Ambassador Wood and Governor Habiba 
Sarabi discussed development priorities and security 
risks in what has generally been Afghanistan's most 
secure province.  The Ambassador also met the 
Provincial Council, a women's shura, and toured a 
USAID-funded midwifery training center. The governor 
and provincial council members assured the Ambassador 
of their support for the international community, 
but as expected, pressed for more U.S. development 
assistance to Bamyan.  END SUMMARY. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
Governor Sarabi: Focus Remains on Roads 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  Governor Sarabi, who has publicly accused 
USAID of failing to keep prior development commitments 
in Bamyan,  said that after her recent meeting in 
Kabul with the Ambassador (reftel), she had received a 
report from USAID which detailed its assistance to 
Bamyan province in FY 2007 (totaling $17 million) and 
said she "fully appreciated" USAID's efforts.  The 
Ambassador told Governor Sarabi that the U.S. will 
give more development assistance to Bamyan in the next 
18 months than it provided in the previous five years 
altogether.  This includes pavement of both the 
Airfield Road and Bazaar Road in Bamyan City, two 
projects that have taken on great symbolic 
significance in Bamyan, which today has no paved 
roads. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Governor Sarabi described the abysmal state 
of the Dai Kundi roadway, which has received no 
repairs in 20 years.  Large sections of this road 
collapsed during spring floods and have not been 
restored.  The poor condition of this north-south 
route creates problems not only for the isolated 
Panjab and Waras districts in southern Bamyan (where a 
large part of the province's population resides), but 
drives up the cost of shipping food and other goods to 
Ghor and Dai Kundi provinces.  The governor pressed 
for assistance but acknowledged that she has not 
discussed it with the governor of Dai Kundi or asked 
the central government for assistance.  (Note:  The 
U.S. Army CERP manager for Bamyan is seeking approval 
for funds to repair pavement and bridges along 
approximately 60 kilometers of this road. End note.) 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
Governor on Security, Police, Provincial Council 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶4. (SBU) When asked about reports of weapons and drugs 
being moved through Bamyan province, Governor Sarabi 
described these as problems from Dai Kundi and Ghazni 
that spill over into Bamyan. She identified the 
problem area for Bamyan as the Kahmard district in 
northeastern Bamyan, which is home to the province's 
minority Tajik community.  ANP have a hard time 
tracking activity in this district because of its 
mountainous terrain.  The province's principal 
defense, she said, is that the people of Bamyan oppose 
drugs and inform the police of drug activity. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Overall, Governor Sarabi said the ANP are 
doing a good job but are not well-trained. Governor 
Sarabi was pleased with the training program at the 
PRT's Regional Police Training Center and with the 
police reform efforts by the Ministry of Interior, but 
she indicated concern about the quality of Bamyan's 
ANP officers in the higher ranks. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
Provincial Council Questions Distribution of U.S. 
 
KABUL 00002068  002 OF 002 
 
 
Assistance 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶6. (SBU) The Ambassador also met with the provincial 
council who assured the Ambassador of the Bamyan 
people's support for the U.S., but in a common 
refrain in the central provinces, complained 
that Bamyan is ignored when it comes to development 
assistance.  Former PC chair Nawroz Etimadi bemoaned 
that provinces racked with insecurity and poppy 
cultivation, like Helmand, receive more 
in development assistance than the $17 million 
a more secure, poppy free province like Bamyan, 
where the local people are more supportive of the 
central government and shun poppy cultivation. 
Etimadi asserted that the international community 
sends the wrong message when it is perceived that 
provinces plagued by violence, poppy and ineffective 
leadership receive more attention and development 
assistance than provinces that are quiet and whose 
leadership takes an active role in keep them that way. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Mohammad Muhsini, Bamyan's most influential 
religious leader and the recently elected chairman of 
the Provincial Council, outlined the need for three 
specific projects:  a new road in the center of Bamyan 
province, a dormitory for Bamyan University, and 
better roads connecting Bamyan to other provinces. 
(Note: The day following the Ambassador's visit, the 
chairman of the Bayat Foundation laid the cornerstone 
for a new women's dormitory at Bamyan University; a 
men's dormitory is also needed. End note.) 
 
-------------------- 
Bamyan Women's Shura 
-------------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) The Ambassador also met with the Bamyan 
women's shura, who raised concerns about distances 
girls must travel to school and that access to health 
care is cut off during the winter months.  The 
Ambassador also toured the USAID-funded Midwifery 
Training Center, which is reducing infant and maternal 
mortality rates in the central highlands. 
WOOD