US embassy cable - 05TRIPOLI224

C O N F I D E N T I A L TRIPOLI 000224 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  9/3/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, LY 
SUBJECT: CELEBRATING 36 YEARS OF QADHAFI 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Gregory L. Berry, COM, USLO, Tripoli. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
1.  (C) Summary:  A hundred thousand or more Libyans gathered on 
Martyrs Square in Tripoli August 31 to commemorate the 1969 
revolution which brought Colonel Qadhafi to power.  Qadhafi 
passed up the opportunity to address the multitude, but he 
appeared on the reviewing stand for half an hour to receive the 
adulation of the crowd and to study a written "declaration of 
loyalty from all Libyans."  Apart from a cheering section 
supplied by the revolutionary committees, the crowd seemed 
mostly to have its mind elsewhere; the reaction to a spectacular 
fireworks display in particular was astonishingly tepid. 
Generally, outside observers saw in the event what they expected 
to see; to take one example, an Arab Ambassador who is 
disdainful of Qadhafi and all his works claimed that the crowd's 
indifference was a measure of the regime's isolation.  End 
Summary. 
 
2.  (C) The government did whatever was necessary to get tens of 
thousands of supporters into the center of Tripoli for 
Revolution Day celebrations on August 31.  Reportedly, 
government officials in the outlying areas of Libya were told to 
be in Tripoli for the celebration or risk losing their jobs.  We 
heard rumors that each "shabbiat" (district) official was 
ordered to be at the cermony along with a minimum of two other 
attendees.  Universities and other institutions sent busloads of 
participants.   USLO LES staff relayed rumors that the 
government would hand out 200 dinars to everyone in Green Square 
the afternoon of August 31.  Transportation was a special 
challenge; there were many reports of security officers 
arbitrarily commandeering private vans and busses in the larger 
national interest.  In the end, the regime got what it needed -- 
a large enough crowd to look impressive on television, but not 
so large as to overwhelm the carefully choreographed program. 
To judge from the result, officials had more trouble lining up 
the groups that were to parade in front of the reviewing stand; 
some of the noisier groups circulated through two or three times 
in a great circle to fill out the three-hour event. 
 
3.  (C)  The centerpiece of the celebration was a spectacular 
fireworks display produced by a French company.  (In a typically 
Libyan moment, the French coordinator of the show was visited by 
Libyan security on the morning of the event and told that the 
fireworks had been canceled because explosives were too 
dangerous.  That edict was later reversed, and the show went 
ahead as planned.)  Interestingly, while Western observers went 
to some lengths to find places to see the show, the Libyan crowd 
was largely indifferent.  Many Libyans ignored the bright lights 
altogether, turning their backs on the display and chatting with 
friends.  Cameramen from state television, who spent most of the 
evening broadcasting pictures of smiling children and solemn 
tribesmen, had trouble finding suitable shots during the 
fireworks.  One young woman in particular was shown holding her 
ears and staring about in confusion when the explosions were at 
their loudest. 
 
4.  (C) Qadhafi appeared for about half an hour near the end of 
the event.  When his face popped up on the video screens around 
the square, the security cordons dissolved, giving the 
impression that the tightly packed crowd was surging forward to 
be close to the leader.  The cameras eventually zoomed in on 
Qadhafi, showing him studying a short document entitled "Pledge 
of Loyalty from the Libyan People" and containing what appeared 
to be a few pages of signatures.  (One sardonic soul noted that, 
given the size of the document, there must be about a million 
signatures per page.)  To the surprise of everyone, Qadhafi said 
nothing at all to the crowd; he was smiling and apparently 
relaxed, but gave the impression of someone who had done it all 
many, many times before. 
 
COMMENT 
---------------- 
 
5.  (C) Outsiders generally saw what they expected to see.  The 
Egyptian Ambassador -- bored, cranky, and no admirer of the 
regime in any event -- claimed the indifference of the crowd to 
the parade and spectacle was a sign of how feeble and out of 
touch the regime had become.  Asked by a slightly startled 
colleague whether he was predicting that the regime was 
tottering, the Egyptian spread his hands wide and said, "Why 
knows?  Something like this can glide for a long time before it 
crashes." 
 
BERRY