VZCZCXRO8637
PP RUEHDBU RUEHPW
DE RUEHBUL #1181 1271303
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 071303Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8793
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES PRIORITY 0035

UNCLAS KABUL 001181 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM AF
SUBJECT: THE WEEK IN PARLIAMENT, 5/2-5/7: MORE ANGER OVER 
CIVILIAN CASUALTIES 
 
REF: A. KABUL 1119 
     ¶B. KABUL 1042 
 
¶1. Lower House MPs exploded in anger Wednesday (May 6) over 
new reports of civilian casualties resulting from a joint 
Afghan Army-Coalition forces operation in Bala Boluk district 
of Farah province this week.  Afghan media and NGOs reported 
between 40 and 160 civilians killed, prompting many MPs to 
renew calls for the withdrawal of foreign forces.  Speaker 
Yunus Qanooni called for the government to introduce a draft 
law on the "legalization" of ISAF's mission within one week 
(reftels).  Qanooni also proposed a delegation of 
parliamentarians meet with UNAMA, the US Embassy, ISAF, and 
the US Congress to express Afghan anger over the continued 
incidents of civilian casualties. 
 
¶2. Qanooni, generally a supporter of Coalition forces, 
introduced the proposals to stem rapidly rising tempers among 
MPs.  As Wednesday's debate raged on, several MPs launched 
into virulently anti-Coalition and anti-US diatribes.  MP 
Sayed Alemi Balkhi (Kabul, Hazara) proposed inviting Taliban 
forces to assume control of security operations in western 
Afghanistan "in order to protect Afghan civilians from the 
Americans."  MP Shakiba Hashimi (Kandahar, Pashtun) said the 
Coalition had broken its promise to limit operations in 
populated areas.  MP Mawlawi Rahman (Laghman, Pashtun) called 
ISAF operations "inhuman." 
 
¶3. MPs historically supportive of the presence of Coalition 
forces expressed exasperation that they could no longer 
defend ISAF's mission to their constituents.  "You are giving 
Russia and Iran an open door to promote their agendas with 
the Afghan people," MP Rahman Oghly (Faryab, Uzbek) told 
PolOff after the debate.  MP Najla Dehqannejad (Herat, Tajik) 
said what she characterized as the "muted" response from 
Coalition leaders immediately following the Farah events 
mirrored last year's incident in Herat's Shindand district. 
Other MPs directed their anger at the government.  MP Naim 
Farahi (Farah, Pashtun) called for the impeachment of the 
ministers of Interior and Defense, and the director of the 
National Directorate of Security. 
 
¶4. The Farah debate delayed action the Electoral Law and 
Private Security Companies Law.  Earlier in the week: 
 
- MPs in both houses discussed the assassination of the mayor 
of Mehterlam, Laghman province.  The mayor was a brother of 
MP Alem Qarar (Laghman, Pashtun). 
 
- The Lower House ratified several international conventions 
and a bilateral agreement with Qatar concerning Afghan 
laborers. 
 
- The Lower House passed the Chamber of Commerce Law.  Some 
MPs tried to nationalize the chamber's holdings, but a 
majority of MPs supported a bill close to the government's 
proposed legislation. 
 
- The Upper House passed the Extradition Law, despite 
concerns from the international community that newly inserted 
language would make it more difficult to extradite 
foreign-born terrorist suspects and drug traffickers captured 
in Afghanistan.  The bill now goes to a joint committee, 
where MPs will hammer out differences between the two houses' 
versions. 
RICCIARDONE