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Viewing cable 09ROME456, VISITING AFGHAN GOVERNORS ASK ITALY FOR MORE

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
09ROME456 2009-04-22 15:43 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Rome
VZCZCXRO6241
PP RUEHIK RUEHPOD RUEHYG
DE RUEHRO #0456/01 1121543
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 221543Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY ROME
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1966
INFO RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL PRIORITY 0488
RUEHMIL/AMCONSUL MILAN PRIORITY 0004
RUEHFL/AMCONSUL FLORENCE PRIORITY 3593
RUEHNP/AMCONSUL NAPLES PRIORITY 3782
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO PRIORITY 3019
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ROME 000456 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR KPAO MOPS NATO EAID SNAR IT AF
SUBJECT: VISITING AFGHAN GOVERNORS ASK ITALY FOR MORE 
TROOPS, DEVELOPMENT AID 
 
ROME 00000456  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
1. (U) Sensitive but Unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly. 
 
2. (SBU)  Summary. The Governors of Afghanistan's Farah and 
Bamyan Provinces visited Rome April 20-21 on the first leg of 
a tour of Europe co-sponsored by Embassy Kabul, USNATO and 
Embassies Rome and The Hague.  In a very successful series of 
meetings with Members of Parliament, MFA and MOD officials, 
journalists, think tanks and university students, the 
Governors thanked Italy for its security and development 
assistance in their provinces while stressing the urgent need 
for more troops and aid.  Governor Amin of Farah, which lies 
in Italy's Regional Command West, said a more visible Italian 
security presence (patrols and attack helicopters) would 
deter insurgents and drug traffickers and reassure local 
communities who fear a return of the Taliban.  He lamented 
that Italian ISAF forces did not support his poppy 
eradication efforts and rebutted Italian parliamentarians who 
suggested the international community should purchase Afghan 
opium for medicinal purposes.  Governor Sarabi of Bamyan, 
Afghanistan's only woman governor (and a Shi'ia), told 
concerned Parliamentarians that the Shi'ia "family law" is 
unconstitutional and will likely be repealed by President 
Karzai upon review.  Parliamentarians and aid officials told 
her they would increase their efforts to finish work on 
Italy's long-delayed Kabul-Bamyan highway project.  End 
Summary. 
 
3. (SBU) Governor Roohul Amin of Farah Province and Governor 
Habiba Sarabi of Bamyan Province visited Rome on April 20-21 
as part of a USNATO tour of Europe.  At parliament, they met 
with a joint session of the Chamber of Deputies Foreign 
Affairs and Defense Committees, the Presidents of the Senate 
Foreign Affairs and Human Rights Committees and other 
Senators.  They also met with MFA Director for Afghanistan 
Sergio Mercuri, Italian aid officials, and Officers of the 
Italian Defense General Staff in charge of civil-military 
reconstruction activities in Regional Command West.  In a 
session organized by the Public Affairs Section and hosted by 
the Afghan Embassy, the Governors were interviewed by 
journalists from wire services and two of Italy's leading TV 
newscasts and met with think tankers and university students 
(reported separately in PA channels).  The two TV stations 
aired extensive coverage of Governor Sarabi's comments. 
 
4. (SBU) Governor Amin thanked Italy for sending troops to 
Farah province, and underscored that they are doing "an 
excellent job," as are U.S. Marines operating in the eastern 
part of the province bordering Helmand.  He asked for more 
troops and two attack helicopters, noting that for villagers 
and insurgents helicopters are a visible expression of ISAF's 
power that reinforce the impression that the government is 
providing security.  More (and more frequent) Italian patrols 
would have a similar effect.  Although the Governor's farmer 
education and poppy eradication efforts have led to a 
decrease in poppy cultivation this year, Farah is still the 
second largest poppy producer after Helmand.  He lamented 
that Italian troops based in Delaram had blocked his 
eradication tractors from moving into a poppy-growing 
district, forcing them to go to a different district where 
U.S. Marines assisted in eradication.  (Note: Despite the 
recent NATO decision to support CN efforts, the Italian 
military is opposed to using troops for this purpose).  To 
those parliamentarians (including center-right Defense 
Committee President Cirielli) who suggested that the 
international community should buy Afghan opium for medicinal 
purposes, Amin retorted that this would boost the profits of 
insurgents and drug traffickers, violate the Afghan 
constitution, and undermine efforts underway to promote 
alternative crops.  Amin praised the work of the U.S. PRT in 
Farah and asked for additional Italian aid in the province, 
citing irrigation and road construction as major priorities. 
 
5. (SBU) Governor Sarabi's province of Bamyan, by contrast, 
is relatively secure, with only small pockets of insurgent 
activity.  The main problems the remote, mountainous province 
faces are poverty, lack of infrastructure and the 
discrimination against the province's dominant Hazara ethnic 
group (of which Sarabi is a member).  When urged to finish 
work on the long-delayed 136 km Kabul-Bamyan highway, Italian 
aid officials said that of the 104 million Euros allocated 
for the road, 56 million had yet to be disbursed, but that 
 
ROME 00000456  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
the first stage (54 km) of the road is largely finished. 
Bids for the second stage are being reviewed and Italy hopes 
to begin construction before winter.  Parliamentarians 
Margherita Boniver and Emma Bonino, both strong supporters of 
Afghan reconstruction, were disappointed to hear that the 
road was still not finished and pledged to try to accelerate 
the Italian effort.   Sarabi said Bamyan has been poppy-free 
for three years, so it benefits from funding under the U.S. 
"good performer" initiative.  Sarabi, who is Shi'ia, was 
asked several times about the Shi'ia "family law" which has 
generated controversy in the Italian press.  Both she and 
Governor Amin stressed that the law is unconstitutional, did 
not receive proper scrutiny in Parliament, and would likely 
be overturned by President Karzai after being reviewed by a 
panel of jurists.  Both governors urged Italy to be steadfast 
in its commitment to Afghanistan as several parliamentarians 
voiced reservations about the duration and effectiveness of 
the Italian mission. 
 
6. (SBU) Comment: The success of this program demonstrates 
why it is so important to have Afghan voices engage directly 
with European opinion and decision-makers.  The GOI is at 
times hesitant to promote its Afghanistan mission before 
Italian publics, so this visit was a welcome novelty that 
attracted high-level interest and broad public interest. 
Coming from provinces with Italian military or development 
aid involvement, these two governors were a perfect fit for 
Rome.  The governors gave detailed, polished presentations 
and engaged in substantive and at times tough discussions 
with their interlocutors.  Their requests have particular 
resonance now as the Berlusconi government is contemplating 
sizable cuts in defense spending and foreign aid.  GOI 
interlocutors are used to hearing these requests coming from 
post and from USG visitors; hearing them directly from 
Afghans has a much greater impact. This was a high-value 
program, worth repeating.  End Comment. 
DIBBLE