AL-QADHAFI: NO LONGER RELUCTANT TO ENGAGE WITH AFRICOM \

SECRET VZCZCXRO2956\ PP RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHRN\ DE RUEHTRO #0417 1461454\ ZNY SSSSS ZZH\ P 261454Z MAY 09\ FM AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI\ TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4853\ INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE\ RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI 5383 S E C R E T TRIPOLI 000417 \ \ SIPDIS \ \ E.O. 12958: DECL: 5/25/2019 \ TAGS: PREL PTER MOPS LY SUBJECT: AL-QADHAFI: NO LONGER RELUCTANT TO ENGAGE WITH AFRICOM \ \ CLASSIFIED BY: Gene A. Cretz, Ambassador, Embassy Tripoli, \ Department of State. \ REASON: 1.4 (b),(d) \ ¶1. (S) Summary. Libyan leader Muammar al-Qadhafi told visiting \ Commander of U.S. Africa Command General William Ward that Libya \ supported the establishment of common African institutions, such \ as an African Ministry of Defense, and expressed hope that the \ Obama administration would not pursue a policy of military \ intervention in Africa, as he felt a U.S. military presence on \ the continent could be a trigger for terrorism. Al-Qadhafi said \ he hoped President Obama could travel to Libya in early July to \ address the African Union summit, as well as meet him at the G-8 \ conference in Italy later in the month. Al-Qadhafi expressed a \ desire for cooperation with U.S. Africa Command in the fields of \ counter-terrorism and counter-piracy. Gen. Ward's meeting with \ Foreign Minister Musa Kusa reported septel. End Summary. \ \ ¶2. (S) On the afternoon of May 21, Muammar al-Qadhafi, hosted \ U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) Commander General William "Kip" \ Ward (Gen. Ward) in his tent at the Bab al-Aziziyah complex in \ Tripoli for an meeting that ran slightly over an hour. Also in \ attendance were Secretary of the General People's Committee for \ Foreign Liaison and International Cooperation (GPCFLIC) (Foreign \ Minister) Musa Kusa, Secretary for American Affairs Dr. Ahmad \ Fituri, Ambassador, U.S. Defense Attache, and a member of Gen. \ Ward's staff. \ \ ¶3. (S) After exchanging pleasantries, al-Qadhafi noted that \ during Gen. Ward's earlier trip to Libya, he had been visiting \ Mauritania, where a political crisis was ongoing. "Every time \ we put out a fire in Africa, another one breaks out. We used to \ say this was a US conspiracy, but not anymore." Al-Qadhafi then \ began a lengthy monologue during which he related the stages of \ governance in Africa from revolutionary liberation, to \ dictatorship, to multi-party elections, concluding that now was \ the time to establish common African institutions, such as a \ Ministry of Defense, that would better represent African \ interests before the world. \ \ ¶4. (S) Al-Qadhafi turned to U.S. and Chinese involvement on the \ continent, characterizing the Chinese approach as soft, the U.S. \ as hard, and predicting that China would prevail because it does \ not interfere in internal affairs. He criticized what he said \ was a U.S. tendency to place military bases near energy sources, \ observing that the U.S. did this in the Gulf of Guinea, it would \ spark terrorism. Turning to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, \ al-Qadhafi questioned what he characterized as U.S. support for \ Israel at the expense of Palestine, and advised that it would be \ in the best interest of the U.S. to support the Palestinians. \ He cautioned against trusting the advice of Arab leaders in the \ Gulf and Levant and offered to play a role in that region if the \ U.S. desired. The Leader concluded his remarks by expressing a \ desire for President Obama to come to the African Union Summit \ in Libya in July, and after that meet him in Italy at the G-8 \ conference. \ \ ¶5. (S) In response to Gen. Ward's profession of respect for the \ sovereignty of African countries, al-Qadhafi said he understood \ the U.S. position, but questioned the U.S. military presence in \ Djibouti, noting military power would be used by extremists to \ justify terror. He then proceeded to identify two sources of \ terrorism, Wahabism and Switzerland. Qadhafi stated that the \ Swiss banking system was used to fund terrorists, and proposed \ that Switzerland be split among its neighboring countries, \ according to language. \ \ ¶6. (S) On the topic of Somali piracy, al-Qadhafi asserted that \ "foreign entities" had violated Somalia's territorial waters. \ The solution to the problem of Somali piracy was therefore to \ forge an agreement between the countries exploiting Somali \ waters and the pirates. Al-Qadhafi offered to identify a pirate \ spokesman and broker this agreement. \ \ ¶7. (S) Al-Qadhafi emphasized that as Libya now presides over the \ AU, there was a possibility for cooperation with AFRICOM in \ combating terrorism in the Sahara and piracy. He said that he \ could deal with "the new America without reservation", now that \ the United States was governed by "a new spirit of change." \ \ ¶8. (U) This cable was cleared by U.S. Africa Command. \ \ CRETZ \