http://wikileaks.org/cable/2010/01/10DUSHANBE82.html#
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DUSHANBE 000082
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 1/15/2020
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM TI
SUBJECT: MAYOR MEETS AMBASSADOR, CONFIRMS EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE
CLASSIFIED BY: Ken Gross, Ambassador, EXEC, DoS.
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d)
¶1. (C) Summary: In a platitude-ridden meeting, Dushanbe Mayor
Mahmadsaid Ubaidulloev said upcoming elections would be free and
fair, that contributions to the Roghun Dam were voluntary, and
that the losses suffered by the United States in Afghanistan
were felt by Tajiks as their own. Ubaidulloev asked for help in
getting Tajik students admitted to Harvard University, but
effectively declined to help find a new location for an American
Corner in Dushanbe. He asserted the existence of life on other
planets, caveating this by noting that we should focus on
solving our problems on Earth. End Summary.
AFGHANISTAN
¶2. (SBU) On January 13 Ambassador called on Dushanbe Mayor and
Chairman of the upper house of Parliament Mahmadsaid Ubaidulloev
at his parliamentary office. The Mayor began the meeting with a
lengthy discourse on Afghanistan, thanking the United States for
its contributions and sacrifices there, and saying that U.S.
activities there were very important "as we enter the third
millennium and the 21st century." Ubaidulloev thought the main
task there was to build a sense of national identity among
ethnically disparate groups, and said the United States was an
example for this. He noted that "war is very dangerous", and
said "we know there is life on other planets, but we must make
peace here first."
ELECTION RESULTS ARE LIKE EARTHQUAKE IN HAITI - UNPREDICTABLE
¶3. (SBU) Ambassador asked for the Mayor's prediction on the
results in the upcoming election. Ubaidulloev said predicting
the results was as hard as "predicting the earthquake in Haiti."
He assured Ambassador that the elections would be free,
transparent, and fair, noting that President Rahmon had insisted
on this at the last PDPT congress. He commented that political
parties in Tajikistan were not proactive enough in contesting
elections, but "thanks God we have independent media" which gave
all parties and candidates public exposure.
THE OTHER CAMPAIGN - ROGHUN
¶4. (SBU) Ubaidulloev said despite the low salaries of most
Tajiks, they supported Roghun's construction, as they had
suffered from the lack of electricity. He claimed the health,
education, and cultural sectors did not contribute to Roghun,
and all other contributions were voluntary. Ubaidulloev said
wealthy businessmen were eager to buy shares of Roghun as it was
a profitable investment.
CYBERCAFE, AMERICAN CORNER, AND EDUCATION
¶5. (SBU) Ambassador told the Mayor that the Dushanbe cybercafe,
built by the city of Boulder, Colorado, as part of its
sister-city relationship, still did not have water or power
except for a few solar panels. These power some of the Internet
computers, but were inadequate for the cafe's full operation.
He asked the Mayor to help get water and power connected to the
cafe. Ubaidulloev averred that he was hearing of this problem
for the first time and said it would be no problem to connect
power and water. (Note: the Cybercafe supervisor has raised
these problems with the Mayor's office several times.)
¶6. (SBU) Ambassador then asked for Ubaidulloev's help to find a
location for a second American Corner in Dushanbe. The Mayor
quickly suggested that the cybercafe would be the ideal location
for the American Corner since it was in a densely populated area
of the city.
¶7. (SBU) Ubaidulloev said the parliament had declared 2010 the
Year of Education. He raised his interest in seeing Tajik
students attend U.S. universities, repeatedly mentioning Harvard
DUSHANBE 00000082 002 OF 002
University as an example. The Tajik government and the
administration of Dushanbe were ready to fund studies at
Harvard, but needed the embassy's guidance on what training
courses and level of English were required. Ambassador offered
to put Ubaidulloev's staff in contact with Embassy Public
Affairs staff to explore this issue.
¶8. (C) Comment: The Mayor has for long been a difficult,
unpredictable, and sometimes hostile interlocutor. In deference
to the Ambassador's language preference, Ubaidulloev spoke for
the most part in Tajik, though he readily admitted that he would
make many mistakes. His monologues confirmed this, and
understanding him in Tajik was made doubly difficult by some of
his nonsensical statements. Embassy staff have heard that the
Mayor opposes unfettered public Internet access and has told
city businesses and government agencies not to rent space for an
American Corner if it involved Internet facilities. His quick
suggestion that we colocate the American Corner in the cybercafe
was unhelpful and in accord with our longstanding impressions of
him. However, what we found most striking in this meeting was
his strict adherence to obvious, and tired, lies about free
elections, voluntary contributions to Roghun, and free media. A
right painful 90 minutes. End Comment.
GROSS
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