US embassy cable - 04TRIPOLI31

C O N F I D E N T I A L  TRIPOLI 000031 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  12/16/2014 
TAGS: PREL, PTER, FR, LY, VE 
SUBJECT: (C) CHIRAC VISIT TO LIBYA MODESTLY SUCCESSFUL, BUT NOT 
HAPPY 
 
REF: PARIS 8864 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Gregory L. Berry, Chief of Mission, U.S. Liaison 
Office, Tripoli, Libya. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
1.  (C) Summary:  French Embassy DCM Maurice Dabdoush (please 
protect) December 15 confirmed rumors circulating around Tripoli 
that Jacques Chirac's November 24-25 visit to Libya was not a 
happy experience.  While the French President accomplished his 
most important goal - that of simply showing up here, as his UK, 
Spanish, Italian, and German counterparts have done in the past 
year - there were no major breakthroughs in foreign policy or 
business contracts.  Libyan "game-playing", including a surprise 
welcome ceremony in front of Qadhafi's bombed-out house from the 
1986 raids and trying to invite Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez 
along to the state dinner, irritated Chirac and cost a certain 
amount of good-will, Dabdoush said.  End summary. 
 
The Rumors 
----------------- 
 
2. (C) Dabdoush and newly-arrived French Ambassador to Libya 
both departed Libya within hours of Chirac.  By then Tripoli was 
abuzz with rumors that the visit had gone poorly.  The take of 
many here, including the British embassy, was that Chirac's 
efforts to "ingratiate" himself with the Libyans after the 
coolness of recent years and the ill grace with which the UTA 
dispute was resolved had failed.  The diplomatic community and 
the media interpreted the fact that Chirac's welcoming ceremony 
was held at Qadhafi's former house in the Bab al-Azizia 
barracks, which suffered a direct hit in the U.S. 1986 bombing 
and is now a shrine to the 1986 "martyrs of imperial 
aggression", as a slap in the face to the U.S. by both the 
Libyans and French.  Many were also scratching their heads over 
the November 24 state dinner, which the Libyans advertised as a 
double bill in honor of both Chirac and Venezuelan President 
Hugo Chavez, who was also in town, but which only Chirac 
attended. 
 
The Irritations 
------------------- 
 
3.  (C) When we finally caught up with Dabdoush December 15, he 
confirmed that neither he nor his ambassador had been recalled, 
as some here had speculated, but instead had returned to France 
to recuperate from the stress of the visit.  From the GOF's 
standpoint, the visit was a moderate success, Dabdoush said; 
Chirac can now say he's visited Libya, as so many of his 
European counterparts have done recently, and spent quality time 
with Qadhafi, as reported reftel.  However, disorganization and 
constant Libyan "game-playing" with the schedule irritated 
Chirac and cast a pall over the visit.  Notable irritations 
included: 
 
-- Qadhafi gave an interview to Le Figaro the day before 
Chirac's arrival, in which he criticized Libyan actions in Cote 
d'Ivoire, infuriating Chirac. 
 
-- On the morning of Chirac's arrival, Libyan Protocol invited 
diplomatic heads of mission to a state dinner in honor of both 
Chirac and Chavez.  This was news to the Chirac's advance party, 
who passed it the President before his departure.  Chirac 
categorically refused, stating that he would have a quiet dinner 
with the Ambassador "over a bottle of wine" in that case (note: 
alcohol is illegal in Libya).  The Libyans disinvited Chavez, 
but Dabdoush told us that Chavez's security guards later got 
into a shoving match with some French ministers in the elevator 
of the Mehari Hotel, where the dinner took place. 
 
-- Chirac had no intention of visiting the 1986 bombed-out 
house, according to Dabdoush.  The French advance team had 
agreed that the welcoming ceremony would take place in the Bab 
al-Azizia barracks so that Qadhafi would attend, but the 
ceremony was supposed to happen in another part of the barracks, 
Dabdoush asserted, showing us the initial site scenario diagrams 
to illustrate his point.  Chirac felt ambushed, and made his 
displeasure felt by his icy demeanor during the ceremony and his 
subsequent refusal to put an inscription in the guest book, 
where other heads of state, mostly African, have gone on for 
pages about the injustice done to the Libyans in 1986. 
 
-- The Libyans ambushed Chirac again on November 24 by trying to 
get him to lay a wreath at a monument for victims of 1986; 
Chirac refused. 
 
What Was Accomplished 
------------------------------------- 
 
4.  (C) Besides actually showing up, not much, according to 
Dabdoush; the five cooperation agreements signed during the 
visit were merely window dressing, and no significant business 
contracts were concluded.  Although Qadhafi made his 
now-standard plea for military sales, the GOF will respond with 
caution, Dabdoush predicted; while the EU arms embargo has been 
lifted, certain sales are still tightly controlled under the 
so-called "toolbox" arrangement.  France will stick to these 
prohibitions.  Notably, the subject of Abdullah Sanoussi did not 
come up; Dabdoush said that the Libyans "know better now" than 
to press for clemency, which he believes Chirac is not inclined 
to give in any case.  (Note:  Sanousi was convicted to life in 
prison in abstentia for the UTA bombing; the French were enraged 
when Qadhafi rehabilitated him, after years spent under house 
arrest, and made him chief of military intelligence.)  Dabdoush 
thought the Libyans have done a "fair" job in keeping Sanoussi 
out of the public eye, as they have requested. 
 
Chirac and Qadhafi 
---------------------------- 
 
5.  (C) Chirac and Qadhafi do not enjoy warm relations, Dabdoush 
said.  They first met in 1976; to Dabdoush's knowledge, the last 
time they saw each other was during the Five Plus Five Meeting 
in 2003 in Tunis, when Chirac was irritated (again) after 
Qadhafi fell asleep during Chirac's speech. 
 
Comment 
-------------- 
 
6.  (C) Chirac's visit brought to mind, as so often here, a 
phrase that has become almost a technical term in the diplomatic 
corp:  Libya's unmatched "wackiness factor."  The Canadians are 
awaiting PM Martin's visit with some trepidation, especially 
after Saif al-Islam demanded an apology for Canada's 
participation in international sanctions on Libya in the 1980s 
and '90s.  End comment. 
 
BERRY 
 
 
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