VZCZCXRO6568
OO RUEHPW
DE RUEHBUL #3333 3650659
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 300659Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 650
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS KABUL 003333 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPRTMENT FOR SCA/FO, SCA/A, EUR/RPM 
STATE PASS USAID FOR ASIA/SCAA 
NSC FOR WOOD 
OSD FOR WILKES 
CENTCOM FOR CG USFOR-A COS, CG CJTF-101 POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PINR AF
SUBJECT: BIOGRAPHIC BACKGROUND INFO ON GOVERNOR USMANI 
 
¶1.  Dr. Mohammad Usman Usmani was sworn in as Governor of 
Ghazni on May 31, 2008.  A Durrani Pashtun of the Alokozai 
sub-tribe, he was born in Daman District of Kandahar province 
in 1968.  Usmani is a medical doctor and a 1999 graduate of 
Kandahar University.  He joined Mir Wais Hospital in 2000 
where he served as senior surgeon, trainer surgeon, and 
medical superintendent.  During his medical career, he 
performed over 4,000 operations.  Usmani likes to describe 
problems and issues in medical terms.  In a recent 
description of Ghazni proince, he referred to Ghazni City as 
the heart, and the ring road as a main artery.  Usmani likes 
to say with a wink, "I'm not a politician.  I'm just a stupid 
doctor." 
 
¶2.  Usmani has two wives and ten children -- five boys and 
five girls.  Usmani jokes that none of the children can be 
certain of which wife is their birth mother.  The family 
resides in Kabul, and the children attend private schools 
there.  Usmani and his family rely in part on a businessman 
brother in Kabul for financial support.  Usmani says he also 
receives financial support from his tribe in Kandahar. 
 
¶3.  Active in Kandahar's civil society, Usmani was involved 
in the Islahia (reformative) Jirga of Kandahar.  At the time 
of his appointment to Ghazni, he was a member of the 
intellectuals' and doctors' associations; the municipal 
shura; and the "Advisory and Reformative Jirga" of Kandahar. 
According to UNAMA, Usmani had good relations with 
development partners while in Kandahar, and there were no 
reports of his involvement in illegal activities or human 
rights violations.  Usmani likes to talk about the 
need to transfrm Afghanistan into a civilized nation.  He 
cutions, however, that progress must be carried ut in 
millimeters, not in meters. 
 
¶4.  Usmai is reportedly an associate of Ahmad Wali Karzi. 
He claims to have close and enduring ties to the entire 
Karzai family, including the President, whom he has known 
since childhood and sometimes refers to as "my father." 
Usmani appears to have taken on a leadership role among 
Kandahar Alokozais after the assassinations of traditional 
leaders like Mullah Naqibullah and the Khakrezwalls.  He and 
his tribe lobbied the Presidential Palace and PRT Kandahar 
for his appointment as Governor of that province.  His 
appointment to Ghazni may have been a sop to the Alokozais, 
who often complain of scant patronage from the Karzai 
Government.  Alokozai elders told PRT Kandahar that Usmani's 
appointment to Ghazni was intended to test his administrative 
and leadership abilities, and that he would likely receive a 
more prominent post in the future.  Usmani told PRT Ghazni 
more than once that he would prefer not to be the governor of 
Ghazni, viewing it as "too complicated" ethnically and 
religiously.  In October 2008, he claimed that at least 30 
members of the Wolesi Jirga had petitioned President Karzai 
to request that Usmani be appointed the Governor of Herat. 
If offered that position, Usmani said he would accept it. 
 
USMANI'S MAIN MISSION: TO DELIVER GHAZNI TO KARZAI 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶5.  Usmani has demonstrated unswerving loyalty to the Karzai 
administration and has repeatedly stated that his top 
priority is to deliver Ghazni to President Karzai in the 2009 
election.  He is already sounding out Hazaras, and attempting 
to steer them away from their candidates -- Khallili and 
Muhakik -- toward the President.  (In early November, Usmani 
replaced the Nawur district administrator with Khadad Alimi, 
a Hazaran whom he trusts.  Usmani told the PRT that it took 
him several months to counter 
efforts by Hazaran MP Qasimi to frustrate the appointment. 
Usmani said the people of Moqur requested a new district 
administrator, and that he prevailed with the help of tribal 
leaders in Ghazni City.) 
WOOD