VZCZCXRO5248
OO RUEHDBU RUEHPW RUEHSL
DE RUEHBUL #0589/01 0480516
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
O 170516Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5638
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 000589 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SRAP, SCA/FO, SCA/A, EUR/RPM, INR/B 
STATE PASS USAID FOR ASIA/SCAA 
USFOR-A FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/17/2020 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM KCOR KCRM PREL AF
SUBJECT: KANDAHAR: CORRUPTION REFORMS BY THE MASTER OF SPIN? 
 
REF: A. (A) KABUL 467 
     ¶B. (B) KABUL 463 
     ¶C. (C) KABUL 408 
     ¶D. (D) 09 KABUL 4039 
     ¶E. (E) 09 KABUL 4024 
 
Classified By: Interagency Provincial Affairs Deputy Director Hoyt Yee 
for Reasons 1.4(b) and (d) 
 
¶1.  (S) Summary: On February 9, Senior Civilian 
Representative (SCR) Frank Ruggiero and Regional 
Command-South (RC-S) Commander Major General Nick Carter (UK) 
met with Colonel Abdul Razziq, 4th Afghan Border Police (ABP) 
Director and a well-known powerbroker based in the border 
town of Spin Boldak.  SCR and MG Carter delivered a message 
of support for Razziq's recently stated intent to tackle 
corruption seriously and to reform the customs collection 
process at the Weesh-Chaman border crossing.  Razziq 
acknowledged his interest in clearing his name of allegations 
of corruption in the Western media, and proposed ways to 
consolidate the customs collection system at the border and 
make it more transparent.  His receptiveness to suggestions 
by SCR and Carter on next steps to clean up border operations 
was positive and will be followed up.  Some of his comments, 
however, strained credulity, including corruption accusations 
against other government officials and his advocacy for Ahmad 
Wali Karzai (AWK), President Karzai's controversial 
half-brother, as an ideal governor for Kandahar.  End Summary. 
 
Razziq Claims Keen to Attack Corruption 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (S) SCR and Commander of RC-S MG Nick Carter met with 
Col. Abdul Razziq, 4th ABP Director, in the Shura Room at 
Forward Operating Base Spin Boldak.  Also present were Spin 
Boldak Commander LTC Bill Clark, the State Department 
representative in Spin Boldak, and Regional Platform-South 
Strategic Communications Advisor.  SCR and MG Carter 
expressed their appreciation for a recent letter by Razziq to 
President Karzai which requested the formation of an 
independent anti-corruption task force at the border, and 
offered their help in standing up the task force.  Razziq 
said he had decided to take this significant step because he 
feared that if Afghans did not solve the corruption issue, 
the international community would cut off its support for the 
country.  He also admitted his sensitivity to his 
international image, saying, "If everyone hears that Spin 
Boldak is corrupt, then I get a bad name." (Note:  According 
to LTC Clark, Clark and another U.S. official had recommended 
the letter and other reforms after a Washington Post article 
on January 31 reporting on Col. Razziq's links to corruption 
had upset Razziq. End Note) 
 
Concrete Steps to Reform 
------------------------ 
 
¶3.  (S) Razziq said that he had yet to receive a response 
from President Karzai to his request for the anti-corruption 
task force.  Razziq claimed, however, that since he had sent 
the letter, he had been threatened by officials in the 
Ministry of Interior (MoI) and the Ministry of Finance (MoF), 
who would lose money if there was a crackdown on corruption 
at the border.  He promised to provide SCR and MG Carter with 
the names and numbers of those individuals.  He also 
predicted that General Mohammad Yunos Noorzai, the commander 
of the ABP, would oppose a crackdown.  Razziq said he wanted 
every truck coming from Pakistan to be searched and 
registered, and that he told General McChrystal during their 
meeting on January 18 that he supported the use of a 
biometrics system that RC-S has been developing.  He also 
claimed that he had already stepped up ABP efforts against 
corruption in the last 30 days and that in doing so he had 
increased customs revenue for the month by 30 million 
Afghanis (USD 600,000). 
 
Media Campaign 
-------------- 
 
¶4.  (S) SCR suggested that a team of experts from Regional 
Platform-South (RP-S) and RC-S come to Spin Boldak to help 
craft a media plan around the clean-up of the border, once a 
comprehensive anti-corruption initiative is in place.  (Note: 
A proposed RP-S drafted Information Operations campaign 
includes short-term steps to do local radio spots announcing 
changes at the border, the setting up of billboards 
advertising the customs fees, and, if credible, the 
longer-term encouragement of stories in the international 
media on the "reform" of Razziq, the so-called "Master of 
Spin." End Note.)  Razziq said he would welcome such a team. 
 
KABUL 00000589  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
Moving the Customs Collection Facility 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (S) Razziq also discussed the consolidation of operations 
in a new customs collection facility.  He recommended 
developing the facility in an area owned by the ABP that 
includes a functioning high school, and currently serves as 
an emergency helicopter landing zone.  SCR suggested use of 
the school as part of the new customs facility might be 
possible but only if another school was built for the 
displaced students. 
 
Memorandum of Understanding 
--------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (S) SCR, MG Carter and Razziq discussed possible contents 
for a prospective Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that 
would spell out ways to improve the border crossing and 
customs collection system.  There also was discussion of 
inviting General McChrystal and several cabinet ministers to 
a ceremony to launch the initiative once the document was 
ready.  MG Carter suggested that SCR, Carter, Razziq, ABP 
Commander General Noorzai, the Minister of Finance and the 
Minister of Interior should sign the MOU.  Razziq agreed that 
that would be a good idea. 
 
Ammonium Nitrate Seizures 
------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (S) SCR asked for information about the seizure of 
ammonium nitrate at the border, an issue he raised at his 
last meeting with Razziq (Ref A).  Razziq claimed to be 
seizing ammonium nitrate, but did not offer further details. 
He said there was more of a problem with narcotics 
trafficking and other criminal activity on the border in 
Shorabak than in Spin Boldak, since he had Spin Boldak under 
control.  He said he had confiscated seven to eight tons of 
narcotics during a recent raid.  When asked what he had done 
with the seized contraband, Razziq said he sent it to 
representatives of the MoI in Kandahar City, but that he did 
not know what had happened to it afterwards. 
 
Suggestions for Better Governance 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (S) Razziq complained that the shura leaders in Spin 
Boldak were not representative of their villages.  (Note: 
Razziq's uncle, Haji Fida Mohammad, is one prominent shura 
member who is known to be critical of his nephew. End Note) 
Less predictably, Razziq expressed contempt for Governor 
Mangal of Helmand, and accused him of corruption.  He also 
suggested that AWK be appointed as the governor of Kandahar. 
When MG Carter joked, "Well he IS the governor, isn't he?" 
Razziq replied seriously, "Even if he is the shadow governor 
now, it would be good to give him the official title. Then he 
will change everything." 
 
Comment 
------ 
 
¶9.  (S) Col. Razziq's motives for supporting reforms are 
suspect, but he may in fact be feeling vulnerable given 
increased international and national focus on corruption in 
Afghanistan.  His sincerity in following through with 
vigorous anti-corruption efforts to include his ABP officers 
certainly remains to be tested.  Per reftels, it is very 
probable that he is playing us to maintain his position in 
the region.  However, Razziq's statements provide an 
excellent, and perhaps unwitting, opportunity to put 
far-reaching changes into place to reform border management 
in Spin Boldak.  As noted in ref B, these changes are 
much-needed.  The integrated civilian-military team in the 
South will be pressing hard in coming weeks to make these 
changes happen.  Additionally, the embassy will take these 
efforts into account as it reviews policy options for dealing 
with powerbrokers like Razziq at its March 11 corruption 
policy meeting chaired by Amb. Wayne and MG Flynn. 
Eikenberry