Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06PARIS282
2006-01-17 06:28:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Paris
Cable title:  

FM DOUSTE-BLAZY VISIT TO LIBYA FOCUSES ON PLIGHT

Tags:  PREL LY BG FR 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO2788
OO RUEHTRO
DE RUEHFR #0282/01 0170628
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 170628Z JAN 06
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3121
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES PRIORITY
RUEHSF/AMEMBASSY SOFIA PRIORITY 0402
RUEHTRO/USLO TRIPOLI PRIORITY 0029
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 000282 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 1/13/2016
TAGS: PREL LY BG FR
SUBJECT: FM DOUSTE-BLAZY VISIT TO LIBYA FOCUSES ON PLIGHT
OF IMPRISONED MEDICS, ASSISTANCE TO HIV-INFECTED CHILDREN

REF: 05 TRIPOLI 337 AND PREVIOUS

Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Josiah Rosenblatt, reasons
1.4 (b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 000282

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 1/13/2016
TAGS: PREL LY BG FR
SUBJECT: FM DOUSTE-BLAZY VISIT TO LIBYA FOCUSES ON PLIGHT
OF IMPRISONED MEDICS, ASSISTANCE TO HIV-INFECTED CHILDREN

REF: 05 TRIPOLI 337 AND PREVIOUS

Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Josiah Rosenblatt, reasons
1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (U) This message contains an action request for Washington
in para 10.


2. (C) Summary: FM Douste-Blazy's January 5 visit to Libya
focused on French assistance offers to HIV-infected children
in Benghazi, in an effort to help facilitate the release of
Bulgarian/Palestinian medics wrongly convicted of infecting
the children. MFA contacts stressed that the FM's interest
in the imprisoned medics issue was spurred by his medical
background and a conversation he had with FM Shalgam on the
margins of the Barcelona summit. Douste-Blazy was the first
foreign minister to meet with the imprisoned medics, and also
with the families of the infected children, whom MFA contacts
described as hard-line and convinced that a foreign
conspiracy was behind the tragedy. Douste-Blazy offered the
GOL to treat some 25-35 of the HIV-infected children in
France, and confirmed GoF willingness to help build the
capacity of the Benghazi hospital. MFA contacts were hopeful
that the GOL would eventually move towards releasing the
medics later this year, though they expressed concern that
the GOL did not appear to be preparing the population for
such an eventuality. Other topics raised during
Douste-Blazy's meetings with FM Shalgam and Qadhafi included
Syria/Lebanon, Africa, and recent unrest in French suburbs.
MFA contacts also commented on the haphazard nature of the
schedule, with the FM being an unexpected guest at a Qadhafi
rap session with the public. End summary.

FOCUS ON BENGHAZI HIV-INFECTED CHILDREN, FOREIGN MEDICS CASE
-------------- --------------


3. (C) French FM Philippe Douste-Blazy visited Libya January
5 and met with FM Shalgam, PM Ghanem and Libyan "Supreme
Guide" Muammar Qadhafi. We received separate readouts on the
visit from MFA DAS-equivalent for the Maghreb Christian
Testot and MFA Cabinet Advisor for North Africa Francois
Thoizy. Testot stressed that Douste-Blazy's overriding
objective was to present a French assistance offer for
HIV-infected children in Benghazi, in an effort to help

facilitate the release of Bulgarian/Palestinian medics long
imprisoned by the GOL. Testot explained that Douste-Blazy
had taken a special interest in the issue due to his medical
background and long-standing concern on HIV/AIDS issues. The
visit was spurred by a conversation which Douste-Blazy had
with Libyan FM Shalgam on the margins of the Barcelona Summit
last November, during which Shalgam invited the French FM to
meet the families of the HIV-infected children and explore
possible French assistance, a request to which Douste-Blazy
wanted to respond quickly,


4. (C) Testot described the Benghazi families as hard-line
and resolute in the belief that a foreign conspiracy was
behind their children's afflictions and that the foreign
medics should be executed. In Testot's view, the Benghazi
families did not appear to be manipulated by the GOL; on the
contrary, they appeared independent from and in confrontation
with the regime, as Benghazi had long been a rival and
"problem child" for Tripoli. Testot added that the Benghazi
families seemed disinterested in potential French assistance
to the local hospital and instead were focused entirely on
having their children treated in France -- a potential
problem, since the GoF was seeking to treat only a small
number of the children in France. The Gof envisioned
welcoming 25-30 Benghazi children in France for medical
treatment in coming months; the remainder of French
assistance would be focused on training doctors, nurses, and
lab technicians at Benghazi hospital, in an effort to improve
treatment for the children in Libya. A MFA/medical team
would visit Benghazi by late January to assess cases and
determine which children were most in need of treatment in
France; Testot commented that of the approximately 450
infected children, 50 had died, some were healthy, and 250
were undergoing treatment, in many cases for illnesses
unrelated to HIV/AIDS. Cabinet Middle East advisor Francois
Thoizy, who traveled to Libya in late December to meet the
families in advance, described the Benghazi families as
overjoyed to meet with a visiting foreign minister for the
first time, and somewhat bitter that international attention
had focused on the medics only. Thoizy added that, rather
than ask the families outright to support clemency for the
medics, the FM took a more indirect approach and appealed to
the families that it was time to "end everyone's suffering"
in this tragedy.


PARIS 00000282 002 OF 002



5. (C) Testot described Douste-Blazy's meeting with four
imprisoned Bulgarian nurses (one was too sick to attend) and
one Palestinian doctor as emotional, and boosting the
prisoners' morale. Douste-Blazy delivered the nurses a
message of solidarity from Bulgarian FM Passy, with whom he
had consulted before the visit. The meeting took place in
the office of the prison warden and included foreign media
coverage; Testot expressed disappointment that the GOL did
not allow local press to cover the meeting, which went
unmentioned in the Libyan media. Testot expressed cautious
hope that the medics could be released later this year, after
their expected retrial. Hhe concluded that the GOL appeared
to be looking for an exit on the issue, but needed to do more
to sensitize the public to the prospect of the medics'
release.


OTHER TOPICS: AFRICA, SYRIA/LEBANON, FRENCH SUBURBAN UNREST
-------------- --------------


6. (C) Testot described discussions of regional topics during
the Shalgam and Qadhafi meetings as largely superficial and
offering no surprises. Testot observed that Shalgam and
Douste-Blazy had a constructive exchange on Africa, and
commented that Libya no longer played the destabilizing role
on the continent that it had in the past. Testot described
French and Libyan views on Africa as now more convergent,
noting positively that Libya had not made life difficult for
Chad President Deby, whom the GoF was seeking to support.
(Comment: We heard a divergent view on Libyan support for
Chadian rebels from the MFA Africa A/S-equivalent January 13
-- see septel.) The one African country on which the two
sides differed was Cote d'Ivoire, with Qadhafi moving closer
to the President Gbagbo, as the latter's relations with Paris
progressively soured.


7. (C) On Middle East issues, Thoizy and Testot confirmed
that both Shalgam and Qadhafi criticized U.S.-French policy
on Lebanon, which they described as unfairly targeting Syria.
Thoizy reported that a cousin of Qadhafi had completed a
"secret mission" to Damascus just before the Douste-Blazy
visit, and offered harsh criticism of France for taking an
even tougher line on Syria than the U.S.


8. (C) Testot added that Qadhafi asked Douste-Blazy for an
update on recent French suburban unrest, which had prompted
the Libyan leader to call President Chirac last November to
offer assistance. Testot quipped that Qadhafi saw the
Islamist menace everywhere, and was ready to help out even
where such threats did not exist.


9. (C) Testot concluded discussion by describing the
haphazard nature of the Qadhafi meeting itself, which was up
in the air until it took place at the end of the day.
Douste-Blazy had expected to meet with Qadhafi earlier in the
day and was taken to an empty room where the French
delegation waited for a half hour, before being led across
the building to a ballroom where the Libyan leader was
holding forth on a stage, before a lively crowd which
responded boisterously, not necessarily in agreement, to his
diatribe. Qadhafi abruptly departed the stage, with
Douste-Blazy's delegation still present and relatively
ignored, only to be replaced by another official who
continued the speech. Testot described the scene as a
bizarre example of "Libyan democracy in action."


10. (C) Comment: France is taking a more active and
constructive role on the imprisoned medics issue, which
represents a worthy topic for expanded cooperation with the
USG. Both Testot and Thoizy stressed the GoF desire to
coordinate more closely with the U.S. on the issue, and
emphasized GoF support for launching the International
Benghazi Families Support Fund (reftel),which the GoF hopes
can help pay for treatment of children in France. Action
request for Washington: Please provide guidance we can share
with the GoF on U.S. efforts to help facilitate the release
of the imprisoned medics. End action request.


11. (U) Tripoli minimize considered.

Please visit Paris' Classified Website at:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm

Stapleton