VZCZCXRO2279
RR RUEHDBU RUEHPW
DE RUEHBUL #0624/01 0760726
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 170726Z MAR 09 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7793
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 000624 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SRAP, SCA/FO, SCA/A, EUR/RPM 
STATE PASS TO AID FOR ASIA/SCAA 
USFOR-A FOR POLAD 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM AF
 
SUBJECT: HERAT GOVERNOR TELLS OF ONGOING SECURITY CHALLENGES AND 
PRESSES FOR MORE USG RESOURCES AND ATTENTION 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) Herat Provincial Governor Nuristani confirmed this week 
that local trouble-maker Ghulam Yahya Siyashwani's people continue 
to create security problems, recently kidnapping local government 
officials in the Pashtun Zarghun district.  Governor Nuristani was 
critical of Afghan National Police (ANP) actions in response to 
these and other criminal activities and took credit for the recent 
release of individuals kidnapped in January, as well as the return 
of the body of an Indian citizen killed by Siyashwani's supporters. 
The Governor also recounted efforts by strongman Mullah Mustafa from 
neighboring Ghor Province and others in the bordering Cheshte Sharif 
District of Herat Province to press him to replace the district 
governor in exchange for peace at the Salma dam site, a major Indian 
development project.  Finally, Nuristani criticized the level of 
Italian assistance in the province and pressed for increased USG 
resources and attention to Herat, given its large population and 
proximity to Iran. 
 
Challenges Continue with 
Ghulam Yahya Siyashwani 
------------------------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) Supporters of Ghulam Yahya Siyashwani (and most likely the 
man himself) continue to cause trouble in Herat.  According to the 
Governor, Siyashwani's people recently kidnapped two local 
government employees in Pashtun Zarghun district; other sources put 
that number at three employees.  Additionally, the Governor 
confirmed an armed clash between Siyashwani's people and the ANP in 
Siyashwani's home village.  The Governor was critical of the 
effectiveness of ANP actions, both in that instance and in others. 
He cited as an example recent ANP seizures of narcotics and 
explosives that did not include the arrest of the persons 
transporting them. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The Governor took personal credit for his intervention in 
the Siyashwani release of the body of the Indian citizen who died 
while in their custody, and the recent release of two kidnapped 
staff employed by a local communications company.  Five of the seven 
staff kidnapped in January have now been released, with two security 
personnel employed by the company remaining unaccounted for.  One of 
Siyashwani's sons, against whom the GIRoA had no evidence of 
wrongdoing, was released in exchange. 
 
¶4. (SBU) In a subsequent meeting the following week, the Governor 
told the State PRT Rep that he had passed a "personal message" 
through an intermediary to Siyashwani telling him he was a stupid 
man, was ruining the lives of his women and children, and that he 
should join the government while there was still a small chance the 
Governor could assist him.  The message reportedly included a 
rebuttal to Siyashwani's claim that he was just fighting foreigners, 
stating that Siyashwani and his colleagues were only prolonging the 
day when the foreigners could leave.  The Governor had not yet 
received an answer to his message. 
 
¶5. (SBU) State PRT Rep briefed Nuristani on U.S. payments of $50,000 
to the relatives of the 13 deceased civilians in the February 17 
coalition aerial attack targeting, but apparently missing, 
Siyashwani.  Nuristani indicated that he is prepared to pay the 
costs of travel for the families of the deceased to meet with 
President Karzai in Kabul.  The meeting has not yet been scheduled 
since Foreign Minister Spanta had indicated he wanted to participate 
in the meeting because the families are mostly Kuchis and belong to 
his tribe, the Taheri.  Nuristani noted that when they meet with 
Karzai, he expected the President to give them 100,000 Afghanis per 
killed civilian, which has become the President's standard 
compensation payment for civilians killed in coalition actions. 
 
Pressure from Mullah Mustafa to 
Change Cheshte Sharif Governor 
------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) The Governor, who canceled a planned visit last week to 
Cheshte Sharif district and the Salma dam site due to a last minute 
airplane malfunction, reported a recent approach by intermediaries 
for the "three bad guys" in Cheshte Sharif - including Mullah 
Mustafa, who is from Ghor province but spends some time in Cheshte 
Sharif district.  Mustafa is believed to be behind the recent theft 
of some World Food Program supplies transiting his area.  The 
intermediaries said the men and their supporters would not make 
problems at the dam site if the Governor replaces the Cheshte Sharif 
district governor.   Nuristani confided he had already intended to 
transfer the district governor to another, less problematic 
district; but that he would not do this as a precondition or under 
threat from Mullah Mustafa and the other troublemakers of the 
 
KABUL 00000624  002 OF 002 
 
 
Cheshte Sharif district. 
 
Seeking Greater USG Attention and Funding 
------------------------------------------ 
¶7. (SBU) Governor Nuristani also highlighted his hallmark project, a 
province-wide tree-planting campaign which he bragged had reached 
five million trees planted this spring, a record for any single 
province in Afghan history he said (Herat city is famous as one of 
the country's greenest cities).  On a more negative note, the 
Governor complained about the paucity of Italian assistance, 
mentioning that the PRT and the Italian development agency 
(Cooperazione Italiana) will each have five million euro to spend 
this year in the province.  He reiterated previous requests that the 
USG devote more resources and more attention to Afghanistan's second 
most populous province on the border with Iran, its big neighbor to 
the west. 
 
WOOD