Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08TRIPOLI88
2008-02-03 11:11:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Tripoli
Cable title:  

TFCD01: LIBYAN LEADER TO CONTINUE PERSONAL EFFORTS TO

Tags:  PREL KPKO CD LY 
pdf how-to read a cable
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TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3042
INFO RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
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RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS IMMEDIATE 0405
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO IMMEDIATE 0987
RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI 3518
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TRIPOLI 000088 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2/3/2018
TAGS: PREL KPKO CD LY
SUBJECT: TFCD01: LIBYAN LEADER TO CONTINUE PERSONAL EFFORTS TO
RESOLVE CHAD CRISIS

TRIPOLI 00000088 001.2 OF 002


CLASSIFIED BY: Chris Stevens, CDA, Embassy Tripoli, Dept of
State.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)



C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TRIPOLI 000088

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2/3/2018
TAGS: PREL KPKO CD LY
SUBJECT: TFCD01: LIBYAN LEADER TO CONTINUE PERSONAL EFFORTS TO
RESOLVE CHAD CRISIS

TRIPOLI 00000088 001.2 OF 002


CLASSIFIED BY: Chris Stevens, CDA, Embassy Tripoli, Dept of
State.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)




1. (C) Summary. Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi, backed by an
informal mandate from AU leaders, plans to continue a round of
personal diplomacy with both the Chadian government and rebel
groups, possibly including an emergency meeting in the coming
days. Libya is in contact with France to evacuate Libyan
diplomatic personnel and dependents from Ndjamena. The GOL
recognizes that the latest violence could complicate
peacekeeping deployments to both Chad and Sudan; however, Libya
has no objections to the peacekeeping deployment and favors a
quick resolution to the latest hostilities. Though Libya
strongly supports Chadian President Idriss Deby, Qadhafi has an
apparently sincere, if egotistical, interest in seriously
working towards a renewed ceasefire. End summary.

SECURITY SITUATION "VERY SERIOUS"


2. (C) Echoing February 2 press comments by MFA Secretary for
African Affairs Ali Treiki, Salam al-Riyani, Treiki's chief of
staff, told Poloff on February 3 that the GOL believes the
situation in Chad is "very serious." The GOL estimates
approximately 300 vehicles carrying 2,000-3,000 armed rebels are
in Ndjamena on February 3. Libya believes Chadian President
Deby is holed up in a heavily-fortified presidential palace.
Al-Riyani speculated that rebels are receiving vehicles across
Chad's borders with Sudan, CAR, and Niger, but he categorically
denied that any elements in Libya were supporting the rebels.
On Sudan's role in the latest violence, al-Riyani conceded the
rebels' support "had to come from somewhere."

LIBYAN LEADER TO CONTINUE "PERSONAL" DIPLOMACY


3. (SBU) According to al-Riyani, the African Union, meeting in
Addis Ababa, had asked Libya and the Republic of Congo to take
the lead on AU efforts to resolve the current crisis. Pressed
about Libya's mandate, al-Riyani said that the AU did not
actually vote or officially nominate Libya to act on its behalf;
rather, Libya's leadership role on the Chadian crisis emerged
after a series of "informal consultations" of AU leaders on the
margins of the Addis Ababa summit.


4. (C) Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi spoke with both President
Deby and United Front for Democratic Change (UFDC) leader and
former Chadian diplomat Mohammad Nouri on February 2 to urge
implemention of a Libya-backed ceasefire signed in October 2007.
According to al-Riyani, despite some press reports to the
contrary, not all rebel factions had agreed to an immediate
ceasefire. Qadhafi, back in Tripoli on February 3, plans to
continue his "personal" diplomacy with the Chadian government
and rebel groups through a series of telephone calls. Al-Riyani
also raised the prospect that Qadhafi could call an emergency
meeting on the crisis, either in Libya or elsewhere, in the
coming days.

LIBYA TO EVACUATE DIPLOMATIC PERSONNEL FROM NDJAMENA


5. (C) Al-Riyani told Poloff that Libya is currently working
with France to evacuate 74 diplomatic staff and dependents
attached to the Libyan Embassy in Ndjamena to Libreville,
hopefully on February 3. Al-Riyani noted that both the Libyan
and French Embassies in Ndjamena are located close to the
Presidential Palace, the scene of the heaviest fighting.

VIOLENCE COULD COMPLICATE PEACEKEEPING DEPLOYMENTS


6. (C) Al-Riyani conceded that the latest violence could
complicate peacekeeping deployments to both Chad and Darfur and
complicate on-going international efforts to bring about a
political solution to the Darfur crisis. However, he doubted
that Sudan orchestrated the Chadian crisis to obstruct
deployment of a European peacekeeping force. Noting Libya's
long-standing position that foreign troops in Africa invariably
"complicate" things, al-Riyani said that, since the Government
of Chad decided to accept the peacekeeping force, Libya had
dropped all objections.

COMMENT


7. (C) Consistent with Qadhafi's self-image as an African
peacekeeper, Libya devoted considerable energy to an October
2007 cease-fire between the Chadian government and rebel

TRIPOLI 00000088 002.2 OF 002


factions; consequently, renewed fighting has embarrassed Libya
and called into question Qadhafi's ability to mediate. Though
firmly in Deby's camp, Qadhafi has a clear if egotistical
interest in quelling the latest violence. (Note: GOL
interlocutors periodically remind us that Deby is president
thanks largely to Libya's multi-faceted "intervention" in the
Chadian civil war. End note.) Libya also clearly recognizes
that internal violence in Chad will complicate relations between
Ndjamena and Khartoum, which, in Libya's assessment, will have
negative reprecussions for UN/AU-led mediation efforts on the
Darfur crisis. End comment.
STEVENS