LIBYA TO INCREASE PEACEKEEPING COHORT IN THE PHILIPPINES

C O N F I D E N T I A L TRIPOLI 000443 SIPDIS DEPT FOR NEA/MAG, INR E.O. 12958: DECL: 6/9/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL KISL PINR PTER LY RP SUBJECT: LIBYA TO INCREASE PEACEKEEPING COHORT IN THE PHILIPPINES CLASSIFIED BY: Chris Stevens, CDA, U.S. Embassy Tripoli, Dept of State. REASON: 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (C) Media accounts on June 6 and 7 cited Philippine government sources in reporting that Libya and Brunei had pledged to increase their peacekeeping cohorts on the troubled southern Philippine island of Mindanao to 25 each. Qadhafi Development Foundation (QDF) Executive Director Dr. Yusuf Sawani told P/E Chief on June 9 that the QDF had "formally recommended" to the Government of Libya that it increase the number of its peacekeepers in Mindanao. That recommendation is currently being reviewed by the GOL; it was expected that it would be approved in coming days. Sawani confirmed reports that QDF Chairman Saif al-Islam, son of Muammar al-Qadhafi, was in Mindanao as recently as last month to help mediate between Philippine security forces and the rebel Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF),indicating that the increase in Libyan peacekeepers came out of meetings during that trip. Al-Qadhafi also hosted a meeting in Tripoli May 17-18 of leaders of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) - a rival group to the MILF - in which intra-MNLF leadership disputes were addressed and a commitment to "dialogue" with the MILF was agreed. (Note: Under the auspices of the QDF, Saif al-Islam al-Qadhafi has played a mediating role in a number of conflicts. End note.) ¶2. (C) Noting that the GOL's peacekeeping contingent has to date varied from "a handful" to "about 15", depending on circumstances, Sawani said a final figure for an expanded cohort was still being decided. He offered that the group would almost certainly include "some" individuals from the World Islamic Call Society (WICS),a GOL-funded, quasi-governmental entity that has as its mandate the propagation of more tolerant iterations of Islam. (Note: WICS pursues that goal primarily primarily through education of would-be imams from sub-Saharan Africa, who are given comprehensive scholarships to pursue undergraduate and graduate-level studies in liberal arts and Islamic studies at its well-appointed campus in Tripoli. End note.) ¶3. (C) Sawani demurred when asked for further details about which organizations in addition to WICS might contribute to an expanded Libyan peacekeeping contingent, saying P/E Chief would have to contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs-equivalent for any "official information". For their part, officials at the MFA insisted that any inquiries concerning Libya's peacekeeping and mediation efforts in the Philippines would have to be addressed to the QDF. STEVENS