VZCZCXRO9444
RR RUEHPW
DE RUEHBUL #1460 1660633
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 140633Z JUN 08
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4366
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL

UNCLAS KABUL 001460 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/FO, SCA/A 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR AID/ANE, AID/DCHA/DG 
NSC FOR WOOD 
OSD FOR SHIVERS 
CENTCOM FOR CG CJTF-101 POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV AF
SUBJECT: MOHAQEQ TILTS AGAINST KARZAI 
 
¶1. (SBU) MP Mohammad Mohaqeq, a leader of the predominantly 
Hazara Hezb-i-Wahdat party, continues to try to unify his 
divided ethnic group into a bloc that can maneuver between 
Karzai and the opposition United Front.  Though he might 
prefer to encourage both into a bidding war for Hazara 
votes, he is increasingly inclining towards the United 
Front. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Mohaqeq perceives an increasingly pro-Pahstun bias 
in Karzai's policies, which is eroding the multi-ethnic 
appeal that secured the president's 2004 election victory. 
During a late May conversation with us, Mohaqeq condemned 
Karzai's recently established Independent Directorate for 
Local Governance (IDLG) as a "Pashtun tool."  He also 
evinced suspicion about Karzai's eagerness to reconcile 
Pashtun renegades Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Mullah Omar. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Though he fought viciously against the Tajik- 
dominated United Front's antecedent, the Northern Alliance, 
during the civil war, Mohaqeq now praises the political 
opposition, without formally joining it.  He has found 
common cause with his old enemies in the goal of 
forestalling forever the re-establishment of the Pashtuns' 
centuries-old hegemony in Afghanistan.  Mohaqeq said he is 
determined to hold the election law hostage as long as it 
contains the article preserving the 10-seat lower house 
reservation for Pashtun Kuchis. 
DELL