BULGARIAN LEADERS ASSERT SOLDIER KILLED BY U.S.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SOFIA 000436

SIPDIS


E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/07/2015
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR MOPS IZ BG
SUBJECT: BULGARIAN LEADERS ASSERT SOLDIER KILLED BY U.S.
FRIENDLY FIRE

Classified By: Ambassador James Pardew, reasons 1.5(C) and (D).


1. (C) SUMMARY AND ACTION REQUEST. Bulgarian Prime Minister
Simeon Saxe-Coburg Gotha and President Georgi Purvanov called
the Ambassador to their offices March 7 to assert that the
Bulgarian soldier killed in Iraq on March 4 died as a result
of friendly fire by U.S. forces. In separate, back-to-back
meetings, both men called for an immediate explanation from
the U.S. The Prime Minister said the shooting puts the
government in an "untenable situation" politically. The
Ambassador promised a full investigation. A Bulgarian wire
service ran the story as the President and the Ambassador
were meeting, and we expect a press frenzy to follow. We
request the U.S. military provide to us as soon as possible
the results of its preliminary investigation into this
alleged friendly-fire incident. Draft press guidance is
included in para seven below. END SUMMARY AND ACTION REQUEST.


2. (C) As the body of Bulgarian Army Sergeant Gardi Gardev
was being prepared for burial on March 7, Minister of Defense
Svinarov gave our Defense Attache details of Gardev's killing
from Bulgarian military reporting. Svinarov alleged that a
unit of the Bulgarian battalion in Diwaniyah had been on a
"routine night patrol" on the evening of March 4 when its
commander decided to cut the mission short and return to
base. As the unit was turning its Humvees around, a white
passenger vehicle approached. The Bulgarian soldiers fired
two warning shots, and the car stopped with its headlights
illuminating the Bulgarian vehicles. At that point, the
Bulgarian patrol came under "massive" small arms fire from
the west. The Bulgarians returned fire and left the area.
Sergeant Gardev who was shot three times in the chest, died
on the way back to base. When the Bulgarian battalion
commander returned to the site the following day to
investigate, he located a "communications node" staffed by
U.S. forces approximately 150 meters to the west of where the
Bulgarian patrol came under attack. According to Svinarov,
the officer in charge of the U.S. site confirmed to the
Bulgarian commander that his unit had fired their weapons the
previous evening. A member of the President's staff told us
that an autopsy would be conducted on Sergeant Gardev's body
later today to determine, among other things, the type of
weapon that fired the fatal shots.


3. (C) At this point, the Bulgarians are convinced Gardev's
death was the result of fire from U.S. soldiers. With
elections only four months away, the Prime Minister is
clearly worried about a political backlash. He insisted on
an immediate explanation, adding that the report should come
from the U.S. rather than the Polish MNF-CS command. The
President put the incident in the context of "improper
coordination" and "serious strains" among coalition partners
on the ground. He referred to an incident several weeks ago
-- which we were not aware of -- in which a U.S. officer
allegedly held a gun to the head of a Bulgarian soldier at
the Diwaniyah headquarters. He said the U.S. military had
subsequently apologized for the incident, but it nevertheless
left a bad taste and contributed to the sense that the
Bulgarians were being treated roughly by their U.S. coalition
partners. Both the President and the Prime Minister said it
was imperative to determine the facts immediately and -- in
the President's words -- "to rally around" these facts in our
dealings with the press.


4. (C) The President told the Ambassador that his view had
always been that "no single incident" should prompt a
decision to withdraw the Bulgarian battalion from Iraq.
However, he than went on to say that "this case must be
cleared up quickly if we are to continue our position."
Defense Minister Svinarov was quoted in the press as saying
that the Government would decide this month whether to rotate
a fifth battalion into Iraq when the current battalion
completes its six-month mission in June. It is not clear
whether he made the statement before or after being informed
of the alleged friendly-fire incident, the nature of which
only become apparent to Bulgaria's political leadership last
night. The Bulgarian CHOD, General Kolev, gave our Defense
Attache a letter to CJCS General Myers requesting an official
explanation (para 8).


5. (C) As in previous cases where Bulgarian soldiers have
been killed in Iraq, the Ambassador expressed deep sorrow for
the loss of Sergeant Gardev's life. He assured the President
and the Prime Minister that the U.S. would investigate fully
and promptly the circumstances surrounding the incident in
which the Bulgarian soldier died, and would report the


findings to the Government of Bulgaria without delay. He
urged both men to do what they could to calm the anticipated
firestorm in the press until all of the facts could be
determined. He assured President Purvanov that if Sergeant
Gardev had indeed died as a result of friendly fire, it
should be seen as a tragic accident and not as a reflection
of tensions between the U.S. and Bulgaria at any level.


6. (C) COMMENT. The alleged killing of a Bulgarian soldier
by U.S. troops will create a media frenzy here. The incident
comes at a bad time for the Government of Bulgaria, following
the widely-publicized shooting of Italian journalist Giuliana
Sgrena earlier the same day and at the beginning of what is
expected to be a hard-fought election campaign. The leading
opposition party, the Bulgarian Socialists, had already
called for an immediate withdrawal from Iraq, and this
incident will undoubtedly lead to an intensification of the
debate over Bulgaria's participation in the coalition. While
we do not expect the Bulgarians to change their policy on
Iraq in the short term, Simeon Saxe-Coburg Gotha's government
will find itself weakened and on the defensive as a result of
this incident. As he told the Ambassador, the Prime Minister
needs our help in order to be able to explain to the nation
"how this happened." END COMMENT.


7. (U) Following is the guidance we are using with the local
press:

Q: Was a Bulgarian soldier in Iraq killed on March 4 as a
result of friendly fire from American troops?

-- The U.S. expresses its sorrow for the death of Sergeant
Gardi Gardev, and offers it sincere condolences to his family
and friends.

-- We have seen reports that this killing could have been the
result of fire from American soldiers in the vicinity. The
U.S. takes these reports very seriously and will investigate
the circumstances surrounding Sgt. Gardev's death.

-- We will work closely with the Bulgarian government on
this issue.


8. (SBU) Following is the text of General Kolev's letter to
General Myers:

CHIEF OF GENERAL STAFF
OF THE BULGARIAN ARMED FORCES

DEAR GENERAL MYERS,

I would like to inform you that on 4th March 2005 a Bulgarian
military patrol
including three Hummer vehicles and 15 military men from the
Bulgarian
contingent of the Coalition Forces in Iraq performing routine
tasks on highway
"Tampa" in the zone of responsibility of the Bulgarian
contingent in the province
of Ad Diwaniyah at 19.45 local time went under a massive fire
as a result of which
the Bulgarian soldier private (sic) Gardi Gardev was heavily
wounded and later died
from his injuries.

The circumstances related to this tragic incident make us
think that the death of
our soldier might be caused by a friendly fire coming from a
post of the US
military forces guarding a communication site situated close
to the highway.

In order to clarify all the circumstances I would like to
extend a persistent request
to you to order an investigation of the case to be executed
by the competent US
authorities and to inform us about the results in due time. I
would also like to ask
you to take all the necessary measures to prevent such
incidents in the future.

Expressing once again our decisiveness to continue to
implement our ally
commitments in the best way possible,

I remain sincerely yours,

General Nikola KOLEV


GENERAL RICHARD B. MYERS
CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF


8. (U) Baghdad minimize considered.
PARDEW