Cablegate: Mohaqeq Tilts Against Karzai

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DE RUEHBUL #1460 1660633
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R 140633Z JUN 08
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
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INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV AF
SUBJECT: MOHAQEQ TILTS AGAINST KARZAI

1. (SBU) MP Mohammad Mohaqeq, a leader of the predominantly
Hazara Hezb-i-Wahdat party, continues to try to unify his
divided ethnic group into a bloc that can maneuver between
Karzai and the opposition United Front. Though he might
prefer to encourage both into a bidding war for Hazara
votes, he is increasingly inclining towards the United
Front.

2. (SBU) Mohaqeq perceives an increasingly pro-Pahstun bias
in Karzai's policies, which is eroding the multi-ethnic
appeal that secured the president's 2004 election victory.
During a late May conversation with us, Mohaqeq condemned
Karzai's recently established Independent Directorate for
Local Governance (IDLG) as a "Pashtun tool." He also
evinced suspicion about Karzai's eagerness to reconcile
Pashtun renegades Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Mullah Omar.

3. (SBU) Though he fought viciously against the Tajik-
dominated United Front's antecedent, the Northern Alliance,
during the civil war, Mohaqeq now praises the political
opposition, without formally joining it. He has found
common cause with his old enemies in the goal of
forestalling forever the re-establishment of the Pashtuns'
centuries-old hegemony in Afghanistan. Mohaqeq said he is
determined to hold the election law hostage as long as it
contains the article preserving the 10-seat lower house
reservation for Pashtun Kuchis.
DELL

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