US embassy cable - 05RABAT1821

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RABAT 001821 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/MAG, NEA/PD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/02/2009 
TAGS: MO, PBTS, PHUM, PREL 
SUBJECT: DRAMA IN AGADIR:  RECAPPING THE POW RELEASE 
 
REF: RABAT 1776 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Thomas T. Riley for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
1.  (C) The two US charter aircraft carrying the final 404 
Moroccan POWs held by the Polisario touched down at Agadir 
Airport shortly after 7:30 pm local time on August 18. 
Arrayed at the bottom of the stairs to greet the POWs as they 
came off the aircraft were Foreign Minister Benaissa, 
Minister of Interior Mustapha Sahel, Deputy Foreign Minister 
Fassi Fihri, Moroccan Royal Armed Forces General Bennani, 
Senator Lugar, and Ambassador Riley.  This was an 
unprecedented line-up for returning POWs; in the past, POWs 
had been flown to the military airport in Agadir, offloaded 
in perfunctory manner, and driven directly to the barracks in 
Agadir for processing.  They were released to their families 
2-3 weeks later and were accustomed to fading away into 
Moroccan society with no fanfare. 
 
2.  (SBU) Sporting new track suits, most of them red and 
green (Morocco's colors), and freshly shaven, the POWs 
descended the stairs one by one, each man carrying one or two 
small duffel bags.  They shook hands with the Moroccan 
officials, who welcomed them somberly, and then with the two 
beaming Americans before being directed to large tourist 
buses lined up near the tarmac.  Ambassador noted that most 
of the men avoided eye contact with their greeters, perhaps 
reflecting their years of subservience as prisoners. 
 
3.  (C) The Moroccans had done their best throughout the 
organization of the Lugar mission to keep the event low-key, 
but their best laid plans came to naught on the tarmac in 
Agadir.  Throughout the afternoon, prior to the arrival of 
Senator Lugar and the POWs, Embassy officers had wrangled 
with airport officials and their superiors to allow Moroccan 
and international press to have access to the tarmac. 
Authorization was granted and revoked several times over the 
course of the afternoon; at one point, emboffs started to set 
up a podium and lay down a carpet on the approximate site 
where the charter planes would park, only to be ordered off 
the tarmac by the regional military commander, who only an 
hour earlier had granted authorization for the move.  "There 
has been a change," he said without elaborating. 
 
4.  (C) The leaking of the Lugar mission in the international 
press more than 24 hours before his arrival created intense 
interest in the mission in Morocco, and ultimately enhanced 
media coverage.  By the afternoon of August 18, some 40 
journalists and cameramen had congregated outside Agadir 
Airport (even while the embassy had invited many Moroccan 
journalists to a formal press conference in Tetouan the 
following day).  Shortly before 6 pm, airport officials 
agreed to provide the journalists with badges so they could 
enter the airport, but on condition that they be corralled in 
one of the departure lounges.  The authorities instructed us 
that Senator Lugar was free to come to the lounge to address 
the press, but the journalists would not be allowed onto the 
tarmac. 
 
5.  (C) There was not a sufficient security presence to carry 
out that directive, however, and as soon as Senator Lugar's 
aircraft landed at approximately 7:00 PM, a number of the 
journalists walked unrestrained toward his plane to take 
pictures.  Though they could not get physically close to the 
Senator, or to the Moroccan officials and Ambassador Riley 
who went out to receive the Senator, they could film his 
arrival without obstruction. 
 
6.  (C) The scene at the VIP lounge, however, where the 
Senator, Ambassador, and Moroccan ministers gathered to await 
the arrival of the POW plane, was more chaotic.  The embassy 
had granted requests to four prominent TV stations -- RTM and 
2M from Morocco, Al-Jazeera, and al-Hurra -- for short, 
exclusive interviews with Senator Lugar.  Once on the ground 
and realizing there was some time before the POWs arrived, 
Lugar's staff suggested the Senator begin his interviews 
right away.  As the four lucky TV crews were summoned to the 
VIP lounge, other members of the press corps surged forward 
and had to be restrained by a combination of Moroccan 
security and embassy PAS officers.  As Senator Lugar prepared 
to start his first interview in one corner of the VIP lounge, 
emboffs grabbed the PAS FSN slated to oversee the interviews 
and pulled him into the VIP lounge, away from agitated 
members of the press corps demanding access to the site, and 
Moroccan security closed the door firmly behind him. 
 
7.  (C) As the first POW plane touched down around 7:30 PM, 
Lugar and the Ambassador got up to head out to the aircraft 
to greet the arrivals.  The four Moroccan officials departed 
also, and all assembled planeside.  The Moroccans had staged 
the offloading on a distant runway, and all of the buses to 
ferry the prisoners to the barracks were concealed behind a 
wall of high trees.  But by this time news of what was 
happening had circulated all over the airport, and airport 
personnel and all of the journalists from the pen, along with 
dozens of security officials, had gathered on the tarmac.  A 
crowd of roughly 150 people was now on hand. 
 
8.  (C) Security officials attempted to keep the press corps 
from approaching the POWs directly, but several cameramen 
eluded them and got next to the stairs before being hustled 
away.  The security officials eventually locked hands to form 
a semi-circular "cordon sanitaire" around the area to keep 
the press at bay, but newsmen were still plenty close to 
collect footage and capture the moment. 
 
9.  (C) The POWs looked weary and somewhat disbelieving as 
the door of the aircraft opened and they filed down the 
stairs.  There were no shouts or raised fists or waving. 
Most of them probably had little idea who was greeting them 
at the bottom of the stairs -- with the exception of Senator 
Lugar, whom they may have seen on the Tindouf side.   The 
airport staff who had come out to witness the proceedings 
were riveted and displayed visible emotion.  Most of the men 
exited on their own, but a few descended on crutches or with 
assistance, and several were placed directly into wheelchairs. 
 
10.  (C) One prisoner broke the mold, however:  when his feet 
touched the tarmac, he pitched forward and fell to his knees, 
kissing the ground and crying out in anguished relief.  The 
press swarmed around him.  Another man excitedly shook 
Senator Lugar's hand and in heavily accented English 
exclaimed, "Thank you!" and "Viva George Bush." 
 
11.  (U) When the first plane was empty, Senator Lugar 
returned to the VIP Lounge.  Completing his last interviews, 
he swept out to the podium, and under bright lights (it was 
now dark), read his prepared statement to the press and 
departed. 
 
12.  (U) Senator Lugar was wheels up from Agadir at 
approximately 8 PM. 
 
RILEY