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