US embassy cable - 05SOFIA436

C O N F I D E N T I A L  SOFIA 000436 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/07/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, MARR, MOPS, IZ, BG 
SUBJECT: BULGARIAN LEADERS ASSERT SOLDIER KILLED BY U.S. 
FRIENDLY FIRE 
 
Classified By: Ambassador James Pardew, reasons 1.5(C) and (D). 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY AND ACTION REQUEST.  Bulgarian Prime Minister 
Simeon Saxe-Coburg Gotha and President Georgi Purvanov called 
the Ambassador to their offices March 7 to assert that the 
Bulgarian soldier killed in Iraq on March 4 died as a result 
of friendly fire by U.S. forces.  In separate, back-to-back 
meetings, both men called for an immediate explanation from 
the U.S.  The Prime Minister said the shooting puts the 
government in an "untenable situation" politically.  The 
Ambassador promised a full investigation.  A Bulgarian wire 
service ran the story as the President and the Ambassador 
were meeting, and we expect a press frenzy to follow.  We 
request the U.S. military provide to us as soon as possible 
the results of its preliminary investigation into this 
alleged friendly-fire incident.  Draft press guidance is 
included in para seven below.  END SUMMARY AND ACTION REQUEST. 
 
2. (C) As the body of Bulgarian Army Sergeant Gardi Gardev 
was being prepared for burial on March 7, Minister of Defense 
Svinarov gave our Defense Attache details of Gardev's killing 
from Bulgarian military reporting.  Svinarov alleged that a 
unit of the Bulgarian battalion in Diwaniyah had been on a 
"routine night patrol" on the evening of March 4 when its 
commander decided to cut the mission short and return to 
base.  As the unit was turning its Humvees around, a white 
passenger vehicle approached.  The Bulgarian soldiers fired 
two warning shots, and the car stopped with its headlights 
illuminating the Bulgarian vehicles.  At that point, the 
Bulgarian patrol came under "massive" small arms fire from 
the west.  The Bulgarians returned fire and left the area. 
Sergeant Gardev who was shot three times in the chest, died 
on the way back to base.  When the Bulgarian battalion 
commander returned to the site the following day to 
investigate, he located a "communications node" staffed by 
U.S. forces approximately 150 meters to the west of where the 
Bulgarian patrol came under attack.  According to Svinarov, 
the officer in charge of the U.S. site confirmed to the 
Bulgarian commander that his unit had fired their weapons the 
previous evening.  A member of the President's staff told us 
that an autopsy would be conducted on Sergeant Gardev's body 
later today to determine, among other things, the type of 
weapon that fired the fatal shots. 
 
3. (C) At this point, the Bulgarians are convinced Gardev's 
death was the result of fire from U.S. soldiers.  With 
elections only four months away, the Prime Minister is 
clearly worried about a political backlash.  He insisted on 
an immediate explanation, adding that the report should come 
from the U.S. rather than the Polish MNF-CS command.  The 
President put the incident in the context of "improper 
coordination" and "serious strains" among coalition partners 
on the ground.  He referred to an incident several weeks ago 
-- which we were not aware of -- in which a U.S. officer 
allegedly held a gun to the head of a Bulgarian soldier at 
the Diwaniyah headquarters.  He said the U.S. military had 
subsequently apologized for the incident, but it nevertheless 
left a bad taste and contributed to the sense that the 
Bulgarians were being treated roughly by their U.S. coalition 
partners.  Both the President and the Prime Minister said it 
was imperative to determine the facts immediately and -- in 
the President's words -- "to rally around" these facts in our 
dealings with the press. 
 
4. (C) The President told the Ambassador that his view had 
always been that "no single incident" should prompt a 
decision to withdraw the Bulgarian battalion from Iraq. 
However, he than went on to say that "this case must be 
cleared up quickly if we are to continue our position." 
Defense Minister Svinarov was quoted in the press as saying 
that the Government would decide this month whether to rotate 
a fifth battalion into Iraq when the current battalion 
completes its six-month mission in June.  It is not clear 
whether he made the statement before or after being informed 
of the alleged friendly-fire incident, the nature of which 
only become apparent to Bulgaria's political leadership last 
night.  The Bulgarian CHOD, General Kolev, gave our Defense 
Attache a letter to CJCS General Myers requesting an official 
explanation (para 8). 
 
5. (C) As in previous cases where Bulgarian soldiers have 
been killed in Iraq, the Ambassador expressed deep sorrow for 
the loss of Sergeant Gardev's life.  He assured the President 
and the Prime Minister that the U.S. would investigate fully 
and promptly the circumstances surrounding the incident in 
which the Bulgarian soldier died, and would report the 
 
 
findings to the Government of Bulgaria without delay.  He 
urged both men to do what they could to calm the anticipated 
firestorm in the press until all of the facts could be 
determined.  He assured President Purvanov that if Sergeant 
Gardev had indeed died as a result of friendly fire, it 
should be seen as a tragic accident and not as a reflection 
of tensions between the U.S. and Bulgaria at any level. 
 
6. (C)  COMMENT.  The alleged killing of a Bulgarian soldier 
by U.S. troops will create a media frenzy here.  The incident 
comes at a bad time for the Government of Bulgaria, following 
the widely-publicized shooting of Italian journalist Giuliana 
Sgrena earlier the same day and at the beginning of what is 
expected to be a hard-fought election campaign.  The leading 
opposition party, the Bulgarian Socialists, had already 
called for an immediate withdrawal from Iraq, and this 
incident will undoubtedly lead to an intensification of the 
debate over Bulgaria's participation in the coalition.  While 
we do not expect the Bulgarians to change their policy on 
Iraq in the short term, Simeon Saxe-Coburg Gotha's government 
will find itself weakened and on the defensive as a result of 
this incident.  As he told the Ambassador, the Prime Minister 
needs our help in order to be able to explain to the nation 
"how this happened."  END COMMENT. 
 
7. (U) Following is the guidance we are using with the local 
press: 
 
Q:  Was a Bulgarian soldier in Iraq killed on March 4 as a 
result of friendly fire from American troops? 
 
-- The U.S. expresses its sorrow for the death of Sergeant 
Gardi Gardev, and offers it sincere condolences to his family 
and friends. 
 
-- We have seen reports that this killing could have been the 
result of fire from American soldiers in the vicinity.  The 
U.S. takes these reports very seriously and will  investigate 
the circumstances surrounding Sgt. Gardev's death. 
 
-- We will work closely with the Bulgarian government  on 
this issue. 
 
8. (SBU) Following is the text of General Kolev's letter to 
General Myers: 
 
CHIEF OF GENERAL STAFF 
OF THE BULGARIAN ARMED FORCES 
 
DEAR GENERAL MYERS, 
 
I would like to inform you that on 4th March 2005 a Bulgarian 
military patrol 
including three Hummer vehicles and 15 military men from the 
Bulgarian 
contingent of the Coalition Forces in Iraq performing routine 
tasks on highway 
"Tampa" in the zone of responsibility of the Bulgarian 
contingent in the province 
of Ad Diwaniyah at 19.45 local time went under a massive fire 
as a result of which 
the Bulgarian soldier private (sic) Gardi Gardev was heavily 
wounded and later died 
from his injuries. 
 
The circumstances related to this tragic incident make us 
think that the death of 
our soldier might be caused by a friendly fire coming from a 
post of the US 
military forces guarding a communication site situated close 
to the highway. 
 
In order to clarify all the circumstances I would like to 
extend a persistent request 
to you to order an investigation of the case to be executed 
by the competent US 
authorities and to inform us about the results in due time. I 
would also like to ask 
you to take all the necessary measures to prevent such 
incidents in the future. 
 
Expressing once again our decisiveness to continue to 
implement our ally 
commitments in the best way possible, 
 
I remain sincerely yours, 
 
General Nikola KOLEV 
 
 
GENERAL RICHARD B. MYERS 
CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF 
 
8. (U) Baghdad minimize considered. 
PARDEW