REQUEST FOR EXPLANATION OF RETURNED DETAINEE ARM DISABILITY

S E C R E T TRIPOLI 000943 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR NEA DAS GRAY, NEA/MAG, S/WCI (SHIN, STAMILIO) E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/6/2032 TAGS: PTER PREL PHUM PINS PINR LY SUBJECT: REQUEST FOR EXPLANATION OF RETURNED DETAINEE ARM DISABILITY REF: A) STATE 135205; B) STATE 127608; C) JOHNSON-STEVENS/GODFREY E-MAIL 10/15/07; D) TRIPOLI 797; E) TRIPOLI 723 AND PREVIOUS CLASSIFIED BY: J. Chris Stevens, DCM, U.S. Embassy Tripoli, Dept of State. REASON: 1.4 (c),(d) ¶1. (S/NF) Charge met November 1 with MFA Secretary for the Americas Dr. Ahmed Fituri and reiterated Post's request for timely access to returned Guantanamo detainee ISN-194 (Muhammad Abdallah Mansur al-Rimi) to follow up on ref A and B requests for further information on when and how al-Rimi sustained an injury to his left arm and suffered the loss of several teeth. The CDA also requested access to ISN-557 (Ben Qumu Abu Sufian Ibrahim Ahmed Hamouda),who was returned to Libya September 26, to assess his condition. ¶2. (S/NF) Fituri stressed that it has been made clear that the ostensibly non-governmental Qadhafi Development Foundation (QDF),headed by Saif al-Islam al-Qadhafi, has the lead on facilitating access to returned detainees. He implied that the MFA was not in a position to offer further assistance and recommended that the CDA contact directly the QDF's Executive Director, Dr. Yusuf Sawani, and possibly ESO Chief Musa Kusa to follow up on the request for access to ISN-194 and ISN-557. The CDA pushed back, acknowledging that while the QDF has been designated as the organization responsible for facilitating Watchdog Committee access to returned detainees, the GOL's MFA also has a role to play in helping to ensure that such access is granted. Fituri offered no substantive rejoinder. Post has not been successful in its subsequent attempts to reach Dr. Sawani or our other QDF interlocutors. (Note: Sawani and other Libyan contacts are typically only reached by mobile telephone as many of their offices lack functioning landlines. Post suspects, but cannot confirm, that Sawani and his QDF colleagues are not taking our numerous calls to avoid having to discuss this issue. End note.) ¶3. (S/NF) Comment: CDA met with Dr. Sawani in mid-September to request access to ISN-194 to follow up on ref B request for further information on the nature of his left hand disability and tooth loss. Sawani said QDF employees (NFI) conducted a "pre-interview" of ISN-194 in mid-September in anticipation of a second visit by Emboffs (first visit reported ref E) and were told by the detainee that he sustained an injury to his left arm during interrogation at GTMO. Post notes that the first (and only) visit to ISN-194 came after two and a half months of negotiation with the GOL and the QDF. Post notes that the GOL has expressed a strong desire for access to all/all Libyan national detainees remaining in GTMO (ref D),and recommends that such access be explicitly conditioned on the GOL's facilitation of the requested visits with ISN-194 and ISN-557. End comment. MILAM