VZCZCXRO5080
RR RUEHDBU RUEHPW RUEHSL
DE RUEHBUL #1587/01 1721243
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 211243Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9595
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 001587 
 
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: PHUM PGOV KDEM AF
SUBJECT: GOVERNOR ATTA DENIES RESIGNATION RUMORS 
 
REF:  Kabul 1486 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) Balkh Governor Atta has denied that President Karzai has 
asked for his resignation because of his support for opposition 
presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah.  Atta said he would resign 
only if President Karzai also agrees to resign. Several high-profile 
delegations from Kabul have visited Atta to persuade him to rejoin 
Karzai's team, to no avail.  Atta accused Karzai of campaigning 
during a recent visit to Faryab province and of sending other 
government officials, most notably Paktiya Governor Juma Khan 
Hamdard, to the north for the same purpose.  He said there was no 
watershed moment that turned him away from Karzai.  "Political 
dignity" for his people is what Atta wants, and he is placing his 
bets squarely on Abdullah to deliver that. 
 
"Karzai Did Not Ask Me to Resign" 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) During a 45 minute-long meeting in his guesthouse, a 
confident Atta told State PRT officer on June 17 that reports 
swirling in the media and even among his own staff that President 
Karzai has asked him to resign are patently false.  Defiantly, Atta 
said Karzai does not possess the authority to fire or replace him 
since Karzai's term as president officially ended on May 22.  If 
Karzai tried to replace him before the elections, Atta would not 
step down, and would only resign if Karzai also resigns.  [Note: 
Independent Directorate of Local Governance Director Jelani Popal 
told PRT Counselor June 18 that he had sent a letter to Governor 
Atta advising him that he could not use government resources or time 
to campaign for Abdullah, or he would be removed from his position. 
End note.] 
 
Wants "Political Dignity" 
------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Asked whether there was any particular incident that turned 
him away from Karzai, Atta said no, and again expressed his disdain 
for the Karzai administration and Karzai's choice of Marshall Fahim 
as a running mate (Reftel).  He added that he wants "political 
dignity" for his people, and Karzai has not provided that.  Atta 
acknowledged that it was Karzai's embrace of Atta's rivals General 
Dostum (Junbesh Party), Member of Parliament Mohaqqeq (Wahdat-Mardum 
Party), and Hezb-e-Islami Afghanistan that reinforced his decision 
to support Abdullah.  He pointed to what he called Karzai's lack of 
dignity in making a deal to allocate certain ministerial seats to 
Junbesh and Wahdat-Mardum during a signing ceremony at the Turkish 
Embassy in Kabul.  Asked to explain why he had previously displayed 
such strong signs of support for Karzai, especially during the 
Nowruz celebration in March, Atta responded that as governor, it 
would not have been appropriate for him to denigrate the Karzai 
government's achievements in public, even though some development 
projects funded by the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and 
USAID, happened in spite of Karzai.  Criticizing Karzai in public 
would have increased ethnic tensions and created a climate of 
anarchy, he said, which would have negated the great sacrifices that 
he and other former mujahideen fighters have made to help form a 
national government.  Atta added that he has voiced his displeasure 
in private meetings with Karzai about the inequitable allocation of 
development money to the northern region and the low capacity of 
Karzai's team, but that approach never led to any changes. 
 
Karzai and Associates Campaigning in Office 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Atta said that as a sitting governor, he will not express 
his support for Abdullah through the media because that would be an 
abuse of his office.  Rather, it is Karzai who is misusing his 
position to do campaigning, Atta alleged.  During a June 11 trip to 
Andkhoy district of Faryab province, ostensibly to inaugurate 
development projects, Karzai met with his supporters in a mosque, 
and once out of the view of television cameras, revealed the names 
of his campaign team in Faryab and urged people to support his 
campaign.  Atta even mimicked Karzai's mannerisms in describing how 
the president unrolled a scroll of paper bearing the names of his 
campaign leaders.  Even though he was tipped off in advance about 
the trip, Atta was not informed by Karzai's people that the 
president would be landing briefly in Mazar, and thus did not greet 
Karzai at the airport as he has done on previous occasions.  Atta 
said he has not spoken to Karzai in two months. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Atta alleged that Karzai is also deploying other 
government officials to campaign for him.  He accused Paktiya 
Governor Juma Khan Hamdard - an Atta rival and Hezb-e-Islami leader 
for the north - of campaigning for Karzai during a recent swing 
through several northern provinces.  Prior to his departure, Hamdard 
 
KABUL 00001587  002 OF 002 
 
 
told State PRT Paktiya officer that Karzai was deploying him on an 
"official mission" to the north - a mission that his staff 
implausibly said had to do with disaster preparations.  Similarly, 
Lower House MP Zalmay Khan accompanied three helicopters delivering 
food assistance to communities in Badakhshan province, where he also 
delivered stump speeches for Karzai. 
 
Kabul Delegations Go Back Empty-Handed 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) At least three delegations from Kabul have visited Atta 
over the past few weeks, offering him a "blank check" to rejoin the 
Karzai camp.  Steadfast in his decision, Atta has refused their 
overtures.  Among those in the delegations were Karzai advisor Yasin 
Osmani, National Directorate of Security (NDS) Chief Amrullah Saleh, 
NDS deputy Engineer Ibrahim, and Upper House MP Mohammed Hanif 
Hanafi.  Some prominent former commanders also visited to seek 
Atta's support for Karzai, but Atta, flashing a wide grin, said he 
did not want to disclose their names because he has since "turned" 
them to Abdullah's camp. 
 
On Karzai's Campaign Team in North 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Asked what he made of the naming of Junbesh supporter MP 
Ghazanfar as Karzai's campaign coordinator for the north, Atta 
downplayed it.  Ghazanfar is rich but has no influence in Balkh, and 
is only interested in seeing that his sister retains her position as 
Minister of Women's Affairs. Atta said Ghazanfar is Karzai's man in 
Balkh province only - not the region.  This contradicts other 
information we received from Mohammed Sabeer, who says he is the 
Balkh provincial coordinator for Karzai's campaign.  Atta also said 
that Junbesh leader Sayeed Noorullah will lead Karzai's campaign in 
Jowzjan and Haji Akbar Wahdat in Faryab. 
 
If not Atta, Who? 
---------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) If Abdullah wins, Atta wants to remain governor of Balkh, 
but would consider a national-level appointment only if Atta's 
supporters want him to accept it.  But if Karzai wins, who would 
replace him as governor?  Certainly not a Junbesh or Wahdat pick, he 
opined, because "the people of Balkh would not accept it."  He was 
not able to finish his thoughts on this question as just then, a 
delegation of Balkh religious scholars entered the room for their 
meeting with Atta. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Atta is resolute in his backing of Abdullah and is very 
confident that his influence in the north and other parts of the 
country will swing the vote against Karzai.  Neither money nor 
positions offered him by Karzai's people have swayed his decision. 
At least through the elections, Atta appears untouchable in his 
position as governor.  If Karzai wins, Atta seems content to remain 
squarely in the opposition camp and to continue using his 
well-established power base and business interests to exert 
influence in the region.  Atta's departure from the Balkh 
governorship would open the door for Dostum or Mohaqqeq to claim a 
greater stake in northern affairs. 
 
EIKENBERRY