US embassy cable - 96ROME8274

Disclaimer: This site has been first put up 15 years ago. Since then I would probably do a couple things differently, but because I've noticed this site had been linked from news outlets, PhD theses and peer rewieved papers and because I really hate the concept of "digital dark age" I've decided to put it back up. There's no chance it can produce any harm now.

MEDIA REPORTS RUMORS OF GADHAFI HEART ATTACK

Identifier: 96ROME8274
Wikileaks: View 96ROME8274 at Wikileaks.org
Origin: Embassy Rome
Created: 1996-08-14 16:40:00
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Tags: PREL PINR LY IT
Redacted: This cable was not redacted by Wikileaks.
O 141640Z AUG 96
FM AMEMBASSY ROME
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0141
INFO AMEMBASSY CAIRO 
AMEMBASSY TUNIS 
AMEMBASSY RABAT 
AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 
UNCLAS ROME 008274 
 
 
E.O. 12958:  DECL:  08/15/06 
TAGS: PREL, PINR, LY, IT 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REPORTS RUMORS OF GADHAFI HEART ATTACK 
 
1.  ON AUGUST 14 TWO LEADING NEWSPAPERS, "REPUBBLICA" 
AND "CORRIERE DELLA SERA", REPORTED RUMORS THAT 
MUHAMMAR GADHAFI HAD SUFFERED A RECENT HEART ATTACK. 
THE PAPERS, CITING UNNAMED DIPLOMATIC SOURCES AND 
BUSINESSMEN, REPORTED THAT A LIBYAN ARMED FORCES 
ATTACK AGAINST ISLAMIC MILITANTS AND GADHAFI'S 
DISAPPEARANCE FROM THE LIBYAN PRESS HAD LED TO RUMORS 
OF HIS BEING TOO SICK TO EXERCISE HIS FUNCTIONS. 
HOWEVER, AN ANONYMOUS OFFICER OF THE LIBYAN SECRET 
SERVICES REPORTEDLY CLAIMED THAT GADHAFI WOULD MAKE A 
PUBIC APPEARANCE ON THE SEPTEMBER 1 ANNIVERSARY OF 
HIS TAKING POWER IN 1969. 
 
2.  OFFICIALS AT THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS WERE 
UNABLE EITHER TO CONFIRM THE PRESS REPORTS OF 
GADHAFI'S HEART ATTACK OR SHED ANY FURTHER LIGHT ON 
THEM. 
 
BARTHOLOMEW 

Latest source of this page is cablebrowser-2, released 2011-10-04