010600Z JUL 07 Panjshir PRT Meeting with Minister of Information

Director of Culture/Information (Halimi) continues to falter in his responsibilities. He has a history of not performing well in his assigned duties, constantly obsessing with the PRT to satisfy all of his resource requirements. Today, he threw a fit with the PRT/CC because he demanded that the PRT purchase him a video camera and film. He stated that the Ministry of Culture/Information in Kabul directed that the PRT would furnish this equipment to him, so he consequently demanded our concurrence. PRT/CC refused, encouraging the director to re-visit the issue with his Kabul counterparts and to find other unique ways to secure the resource. PRT will revisit his consistent incompetence with Panjshiri officials once the flooding crisis has subsided. IO campaign continues to progress well. Panjshiri officials have led all media operations and are on-message. PRT has provided limited press releases through CJTF-82/USAID/DoS channels. Each of the PRT releases have focused on the superior GoA competence during this crisis response.