Cable Viewer

Currently released so far... 5911 / 251,287

### Articles

Brazil Sri Lanka United Kingdom Sweden Editorial United States Latin America Egypt Yemen Jordan

### Browse latest releases

2010/11 2010/12 2011/01 2011/02 2011/03
2010/11/28 2010/11/29 2010/11/30
2010/12/01 2010/12/02 2010/12/03 2010/12/04 2010/12/05 2010/12/06 2010/12/07 2010/12/08 2010/12/09 2010/12/10 2010/12/11 2010/12/12 2010/12/13 2010/12/14 2010/12/15 2010/12/16 2010/12/17 2010/12/18 2010/12/19 2010/12/20 2010/12/21 2010/12/22 2010/12/23 2010/12/24 2010/12/25 2010/12/26 2010/12/27 2010/12/28 2010/12/29 2010/12/30
2011/01/01 2011/01/02 2011/01/04 2011/01/05 2011/01/07 2011/01/09 2011/01/10 2011/01/11 2011/01/12 2011/01/13 2011/01/14 2011/01/15 2011/01/16 2011/01/17 2011/01/18 2011/01/19 2011/01/20 2011/01/21 2011/01/22 2011/01/23 2011/01/24 2011/01/25 2011/01/26 2011/01/27 2011/01/28 2011/01/29 2011/01/30 2011/01/31
2011/02/01 2011/02/02 2011/02/03 2011/02/04 2011/02/05 2011/02/06 2011/02/07 2011/02/08 2011/02/09 2011/02/10 2011/02/11 2011/02/12 2011/02/13 2011/02/14 2011/02/15 2011/02/16 2011/02/17 2011/02/18 2011/02/19 2011/02/20 2011/02/21 2011/02/22 2011/02/23 2011/02/24 2011/02/25 2011/02/26 2011/02/27 2011/02/28
2011/03/01 2011/03/02 2011/03/03 2011/03/04 2011/03/05 2011/03/06 2011/03/07 2011/03/08 2011/03/09 2011/03/10 2011/03/11 2011/03/13 2011/03/14 2011/03/15 2011/03/16 2011/03/17

### Browse by creation date

66 72 73 75 79 86 88 89 90 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10
1966/12
1972/02 1972/08
1973/04
1975/03
1979/08
1986/05
1988/01
1989/12
1990/01 1990/07 1990/08 1990/10
2000/06 2000/09 2000/11
2001/02 2001/03 2001/07 2001/10
2002/02 2002/03 2002/11
2003/02 2003/03 2003/04 2003/05 2003/06 2003/07 2003/08 2003/09 2003/10 2003/11 2003/12
2004/01 2004/02 2004/03 2004/04 2004/05 2004/06 2004/07 2004/08 2004/09 2004/10 2004/11 2004/12
2005/01 2005/02 2005/03 2005/04 2005/05 2005/06 2005/07 2005/08 2005/09 2005/10 2005/11 2005/12
2006/01 2006/02 2006/03 2006/04 2006/05 2006/06 2006/07 2006/08 2006/09 2006/10 2006/11 2006/12
2007/01 2007/02 2007/03 2007/04 2007/05 2007/06 2007/07 2007/08 2007/09 2007/10 2007/11 2007/12
2008/01 2008/02 2008/03 2008/04 2008/05 2008/06 2008/07 2008/08 2008/09 2008/10 2008/11 2008/12
2009/01 2009/02 2009/03 2009/04 2009/05 2009/06 2009/07 2009/08 2009/09 2009/10 2009/11 2009/12
2010/01 2010/02

### Browse by origin

A B C D F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z
Embassy Athens Embassy Asuncion Embassy Astana Embassy Asmara Embassy Ashgabat Embassy Ankara Embassy Amman Embassy Algiers Embassy Addis Ababa Embassy Accra Embassy Abuja Embassy Abu Dhabi Embassy Abidjan Consulate Amsterdam American Institute Taiwan, Taipei
Embassy Bujumbura Embassy Buenos Aires Embassy Budapest Embassy Bucharest Embassy Brussels Embassy Bridgetown Embassy Bratislava Embassy Brasilia Embassy Bogota Embassy Bishkek Embassy Bern Embassy Berlin Embassy Belgrade Embassy Beirut Embassy Beijing Embassy Banjul Embassy Bangkok Embassy Bandar Seri Begawan Embassy Bamako Embassy Baku Embassy Baghdad Consulate Barcelona
Embassy Copenhagen Embassy Conakry Embassy Colombo Embassy Chisinau Embassy Caracas Embassy Canberra Embassy Cairo Consulate Curacao Consulate Ciudad Juarez Consulate Chennai Consulate Casablanca Consulate Cape Town
Embassy Dushanbe Embassy Dublin Embassy Doha Embassy Djibouti Embassy Dhaka Embassy Dar Es Salaam Embassy Damascus Embassy Dakar Consulate Dubai
Embassy Freetown
Embassy Guatemala Embassy Gaborone Consulate Guadalajara
Embassy Helsinki Embassy Harare Embassy Hanoi Consulate Hermosillo Consulate Hamburg
Iran RPO Dubai Embassy Islamabad Consulate Istanbul
Embassy Jakarta Consulate Jerusalem Consulate Jeddah
Embassy Kyiv Embassy Kuwait Embassy Kuala Lumpur Embassy Kinshasa Embassy Kigali Embassy Khartoum Embassy Kathmandu Embassy Kampala Embassy Kabul
Embassy Luxembourg Embassy Luanda Embassy London Embassy Ljubljana Embassy Lisbon Embassy Lima Embassy Lilongwe Embassy La Paz Consulate Lagos
Mission USNATO Embassy Muscat Embassy Moscow Embassy Montevideo Embassy Monrovia Embassy Minsk Embassy Mexico Embassy Mbabane Embassy Maputo Embassy Manama Embassy Managua Embassy Malabo Embassy Madrid Consulate Munich Consulate Montreal Consulate Monterrey Consulate Milan
Embassy New Delhi Embassy Nassau Embassy Nairobi Consulate Naples
Embassy Ouagadougou Embassy Ottawa Embassy Oslo
Embassy Pristina Embassy Pretoria Embassy Prague Embassy Port Au Prince Embassy Phnom Penh Embassy Paris Embassy Paramaribo Embassy Panama Consulate Peshawar
Embassy Quito
REO Basrah Embassy Rome Embassy Riyadh Embassy Riga Embassy Reykjavik Embassy Rangoon Embassy Rabat Consulate Rio De Janeiro Consulate Recife
Secretary of State Embassy Stockholm Embassy Sofia Embassy Skopje Embassy Singapore Embassy Seoul Embassy Sarajevo Embassy Santo Domingo Embassy Santiago Embassy Sanaa Embassy San Salvador Embassy San Jose Consulate Strasbourg Consulate Shenyang Consulate Shanghai Consulate Sao Paulo
Embassy Tunis Embassy Tripoli Embassy Tokyo Embassy The Hague Embassy Tel Aviv Embassy Tehran Embassy Tegucigalpa Embassy Tbilisi Embassy Tashkent Embassy Tallinn Consulate Tijuana
USUN New York USEU Brussels US Mission Geneva US Interests Section Havana US Delegation, Secretary UNVIE Embassy Ulaanbaatar
Embassy Vilnius Embassy Vienna Embassy Vatican Consulate Vladivostok
Embassy Windhoek Embassy Wellington Embassy Warsaw
Embassy Yerevan Embassy Yaounde
Embassy Zagreb

### Browse by tag

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
AF AE ASEC AORC AJ AM AR AEMR AMGT APER AG AS AU AGMT AFIN ABUD ATRN AL APECO ACOA AO AX AMED ADCO AODE AFFAIRS AC ASIG ABLD AA AFU ASUP AROC ATFN AVERY APCS AER ASECKFRDCVISKIRFPHUMSMIGEG AEC ASEAN AID
BR BIDEN BO BA BU BM BEXP BRUSSELS BL BK BILAT BTIO BH BE BX BY BG BF BB BC BBSR BMGT BTIU
CH CO CI COUNTERTERRORISM CA CY CVIS CMGT CASC CS CU CJAN CE COUNTER CBW CG CLINTON CDG CIA CACM CDB CD CV CF CN CAN CIS CM CONDOLEEZZA COE CR CTM COUNTRY CLEARANCE CPAS CWC CT CKGR CB CACS COM CJUS CARSON CL CODEL
DOD DJ DA DEAX DR DHS DOE DEA DK DISENGAGEMENT DS DTRA
EINVEFIN ES ELAB EU ECON ETTC EFIN EAID ENRG EWWT ETRD EUN EC EG EINV EXTERNAL ER ECIN EPET EMIN EAGR EIND ECPS ECIP EINDETRD EN EAIR EZ ET EUC EI ELTN EREL EFIS EINT ETC ECONEFIN ENVR ETRDEINVECINPGOVCS ECA ELN EFTA ENIV EINVETC EINN ENGR EUR ESA ENERG EK ENGY ETRO ETRDEINVTINTCS ESENV ENVI ETRDECONWTOCS ECONCS ENNP ELECTIONS ECUN
FR FARC FJ FINR FAO FTAA FREEDOM FI FBI FMLN
GG GM GOI GT GZ GTMO GV GH GA GE GR GTIP GCC GAZA GANGS GY
HO HURI HILLARY HA HU HR HUMAN HYMPSK HK HSTC
IR IS IMO IZ IN INTERPOL IT INRB IAEA ID IO IV ICTY IQ ICAO IPR IRAJ INRA INRO IC IIP ILC ITPHUM IWC ISRAELI IRAQI ICRC IF IEFIN INTELSAT IL IA IBRD IMF INR IRC ITRA IACI ICJ ITALY ITALIAN
JO JA JOSEPH JAMES JP JOHNNIE JM JUS
KTFN KNNP KWBG KPAL KDEM KPKO KSCA KCRM KR KWMN KN KU KV KJUS KE KISL KCOR KPAO KG KTIP KICC KBCT KSPR KHLS KTIA KMDR KGHG KUNR KS KIRF KFRD KIPR KAWC KPWR KCIP KSUM KWAC KMIG KOLY KZ KAWK KSEC KIFR KDRG KDEMAF KFIN KGIC KOMC KGCC KPIN KBIO KHIV KNUC KPLS KIRC KACT KRAD KCOM KMCA KHDP KVPR KDEV KMPI KFRDCVISCMGTCASCKOCIASECPHUMSMIGEG KTLA KCFC KPRP KCFE KOCI KTDB KMRS KLIG KGIT KSTC KPAK KNEI KSEP KPOA KFLU KNUP KNNPMNUC KO KTER KHUM KRFD KBTR KDDG KWWMN KFLO KSAF KBTS KPRV KNPP KNAR KWMM KERG KFRDKIRFCVISCMGTKOCIASECPHUMSMIGEG KTBT KCRS KRVC KSTH KREL KNSD KTEX KPAI KHSA KOMS KVIR
LY LG LE LH LU LI LO LOG LT LAB
MARR MOPS MTCRE MNUC MY MX MASS MCAP MO MPOS MAR MD MZ MEPP MA MR ML MIL MOPPS MTCR MAPP MU MG MASC MCC MK MTRE MP MDC MEPI MRCRE MI MT MQADHAFI MAPS MUCN MASSMNUC MERCOSUR MC MV
NATO NL NI NZ NG NU NO NIPP NPT NRR NE NS NAR NPG NK NSG NA NT NASA NGO NP NSF NATIONAL
OVIP OTRA OPRC OSCI OTR OVP OREP ODIP OPDC OIIP OFFICIALS OSAC OAS OEXC OFDP OECD OSCE OPIC OPCW OIE OIC
PGOV PREL PHUM PTER PK PARM PINR PINS PSI PA PE PO PINT PL PBTS PHSA PSOE PU POL POLITICAL PARTIES PROP PBIO PECON PM PREF PAK POGOV PINL PKFK PGOF PUNE PARMS PORG PMIL PTERE PF PALESTINIAN PY PGGV PNR POV PAO PFOR PHALANAGE PARTY PRGOV PNAT PROV PEL PINF PGOVE POLINT PRL PRAM PMAR PGOVLO PHUMBA PHUS PHUMPREL PG PLN PGOC POLITICS PEPR
QA
RS RU RW RO REGION RP RIGHTS RICE ROBERT RF RFE
SNAR SP SOCI SA SMIG SY SU SCUL SR SENV STEINBERG SN SO SF SG SW SL SZ SHUM SYR ST SANC SC SAN SIPRS SK SH SI SNARCS
TU TSPA TRGY TI TX TS TW TC TERRORISM TPHY TIP TBIO TH TR TT TO TFIN TD TSPL TZ TK TNGD TINT TRSY TP
UK UNGA UN UP UY UNESCO UNO UZ UNMIK US UG UNSC USEU UV USUN UNHRC UE UAE UNEP USTR UNHCR UNDP USAID UNCHS UNAUS UNCHC UNDC UNDESCO
VT VE VZ VTPREL VN VM
WI WTRO WTO WA WZ WMO WTRQ WHO WWARD WB WBG WEU WHA
XY XW XF XA XG XT XM XR XS XL XK XH XC XZ XD XE
YI YM YE YMCS
ZP ZR ZI ZU ZB ZF ZK ZANU ZOELLICK ZA ZO ZJ

### Browse by classification

CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN SECRET SECRET//NOFORN UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

### Community resources

Follow us on Twitter Check our Reddit Twitter this Digg this page Contact us on IRC

courage is contagious

### Viewing cable 09TRIPOLI133, THROUGH A GLASS, DARKLY: GOL REACHES OUT TO THE NEW

If you are new to these pages, please read an introduction on the structure of a cable as well as how to discuss them with others. See also the FAQs
Understanding cables
Every cable message consists of three parts:

- The top box shows each cables unique reference number, when and by whom it originally was sent, and what its initial classification was.
- The middle box contains the header information that is associated with the cable. It includes information about the receiver(s) as well as a general subject.
- The bottom box presents the body of the cable. The opening can contain a more specific subject, references to other cables (browse by origin to find them) or additional comment. This is followed by the main contents of the cable: a summary, a collection of specific topics and a comment section.

To understand the justification used for the classification of each cable, please use this WikiSource article as reference.
Discussing cables
If you find meaningful or important information in a cable, please link directly to its unique reference number. Linking to a specific paragraph in the body of a cable is also possible by copying the appropriate link (to be found at theparagraph symbol). Please mark messages for social networking services like Twitter with the hash tags #cablegate and a hash containing the reference ID e.g. #09TRIPOLI133.

Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
09TRIPOLI133 | 2009-02-11 10:10 | 2011-02-01 21:09 | CONFIDENTIAL | Embassy Tripoli
Appears in these articles: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wikileaks-files/libya-wikileaks/

`

    VZCZCXRO8252
    OO RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHFL RUEHKUK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSR
    DE RUEHTRO #0133/01 0421006
    ZNY CCCCC ZZH
    O P 111006Z FEB 09
    FM AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI
    TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4464
    INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE
    RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
    RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
    RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
    RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
    RHEFDHP/DIA DHP-1 WASHINGTON DC
    RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI 4989

` `

    C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 05 TRIPOLI 000133

    SIPDIS

    DEPT FOR INR/NESA (HOFSTATTER)

    E.O. 12958: DECL:  2/3/2019
    TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PHUM EPET KPAO LY
    SUBJECT: THROUGH A GLASS, DARKLY: GOL REACHES OUT TO THE NEW
    ADMINISTRATION AS BEST IT CAN  REF: A) TRIPOLI 0072, B) TRIPOLI 0014, C) TRIPOLI 0049, D) TRIPOLI 0064, E) TRIPOLI 0068, F) TRIPOLI 0099, G) TRIPOLI 0068  TRIPOLI 00000133  001.2 OF 005

    CLASSIFIED BY: Gene A. Cretz, Ambassador, U.S. Embassy - Tripoli, U.S. Dept of State. REASON: 1.4 (b), (d)

    ¶1. (C) Summary: The GOL, anxious that the new U.S. administration could adopt markedly different policies towards Libya, has in the past several weeks taken a number of steps - a direct video conference (DVC) by Muammar al-Qadhafi with Georgetown University students, a New York Times editorial and a letter to POTUS - that appear to be part of an orchestrated effort to engage the new U.S. administration and remind it of Libya's strategic importance.  The outreach coincided with other recent, positive steps: the first U.S. Ambassador to Libya in 36 years presented credentials, the GOL invited the U.S. Africa Command's General Ward to visit and a senior Libyan delegation visited Washington and signed a memorandum of understanding on military-to-military cooperation.  Nonetheless, manifestations of lingering ambivalence about re-engaging with the U.S. simultaneously emerged on the ground here.  At a public conference, a senior regime figure excoriated Libya's political opposition, decried restored U.S.-Libyan relations as "a great sin" and called on Libyans to shun the new U.S. Ambassador, whom he described as "a rotten dog."  A senior MFA Americas Department official demarched us to protest the Ambassador's anodyne remarks on human rights and the GOL has resurrected a periodic campaign to prevent Emboffs from contacting GOL entities directly.  A well-informed contact was recently told by the head of a state-owned company (who is a son of Muammar al-Qadhafi) that dealing with the U.S. was still "extremely sensitive", that his company would rather pay private consultants than obtain assistance gratis from the USG and that the contact (a U.S. citizen) should minimize meetings with Emboffs to avoid creating the "wrong impression" among GOL officials.  Finally, the National Oil Corporation (NOC) renewed its campaign to solicit contributions to the U.S.-Libya comprehensive claims settlement fund, telling international oil company representatives at a meeting on February 1 that they "must contribute" to the fund by February 28 or suffer "serious consequences".

    ¶2. (C) Summary (continued): In the run-up to the Presidential transition, senior GOL interlocutors conceded that the regime was "anxious" about the change in U.S. administrations and wanted to continue positive developments made possible by implementation of the claims compensation agreement last October.  The dissonance between the GOL's recent public outreach and its actual record of engagement is partly explained by the fact that the Jamahiriya lacks clearly-defined lines of authority and decision-making.  After nearly forty years of dismantling state apparatus as a manifestation of Muammar al-Qadhafi's political philosophy of "direct rule of the masses", the regime has embraced a program of re-engagement with the world and limited political-economic reform that contradict its revolutionary message and far outstrip its limited institutional capacity and ability to stay on message.  Muammar al-Qadhafi's practice of maintaining deliberate ambiguity on issues to maintain room for tactical maneuver further exacerbates the problem.  He and senior regime figures have effectively played for time in recent years, quietly pursuing improved relations with the U.S. and western powers and initiating overdue internal reforms while simultaneously seeking to reassure skeptical conservative regime elements that their positions and prerogatives will not be hurt by those initiatives.  Maintaining that balance would be a tall order for a robust, fully-functioning state apparatus; for a regime that insists that it is "not a government, but something else", it may prove to be untenable.  The consequences for the U.S.-Libya bilateral relationship are that efforts to expand cooperation and engagement will remain fitful for the foreseeable future and the regime will continue to send seemingly contradictory messages about the nature of the relationship it wants with us. Given this situation, we will continue to explore areas in which the GOL is willing to engage and cooperate, and to assess how much the political traffic here can bear. End summary.

    BACKGROUND: "WE DON'T HAVE A GOVERNMENT HERE, WE HAVE SOMETHING ELSE"

    ¶3. (C) Following the bloodless military coup on September 1, 1969 - officially known as the al-Fateh Revolution - that ended the rule of King Idriss al-Sanussi, Libya went through a period in which the old constitutional monarchy was dismantled in favor of less formal (and effective) governing entities.  From 1969 to 1973, the state apparatus effectively consisted of the Revolutionary Command Council (the policy-making body led by Muammar al-Qadhafi), institutional remnants of the constitutional monarchy, the army and the Arab Socialist Union. During this period, Libya undertook administrative, political  TRIPOLI 00000133  002.2 OF 005   and economic reforms and made major changes in its foreign policy.  From 1973 to 1977, al-Qadhafi introduced the "popular revolution", whose most obvious manifestation were the "Popular Committees", and dismantled remaining institutions dating to Idriss' reign.  There was criticism by other participants in the revolution of al-Qadhafi's increased monopolization of control and regional policy failures such as the 1977 border war with Egypt.  From 1977 to 1992, the regime re-fashioned itself as a "Jamahiriya" (a fabricated term defined as "a state of the masses") and established the "Revolutionary Committees" (RevComms), which were tasked with directing and furthering the aims of the al-Fatah Revolution.  The RevComms provided a new mechanism for the regime to exercise control; however, their brutal tactics and disregard for the rule of law heralded a significant coarsening of the regime.  From 1992 to present, the regime was preoccupied with international sanctions (and efforts to get out from under them) and, more recently, by a limited program of political-economic reform.

    ¶4. (C) The system that emerged from this decades-long process was one in which the "masses" ostensibly exercise their direct authority through a pyramid scheme of Basic Popular Congresses, Popular Committees and the General People's Congress (formally the supreme legislative body).  The General People's Congress in turn appoints a General People's Committee (cabinet-equivalent), which is tasked with implementing the policies established by the Basic Popular Congresses.  In practice, the formal system became increasingly irrelevant as the limits of its ability to govern became increasingly clear.  Instead, the regime has quietly initiated policy from the top.  Such efforts were initially coordinated through the RevComms and the General People's Committees (ministry-equivalents); however, a series of failed assassination and coup attempts in the mid-1990's prompted the regime to rely increasingly on a small circle of security officials and members of the al-Qadhafi family.  The regime has nonetheless been careful to maintain rhetorical deference to the Basic People's Congresses and General People's Congress.  The result is an inchoate system in which lines of authority are ill-defined, and real decision-making processes are ad hoc and opaque.  In negotiations on a bilateral agreement last year, a senior MFA official insisted on replacing "Government of Libya" with "Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya", explaining that " ... in Libya we do not have a government, we have something else".  The distinction is more than semantic.

    THE REGIME REACHES OUT AS BEST IT CAN...

    ¶5. (C) Since the President's inauguration, Muammar al-Qadhafi has taken a number of steps - a DVC with U.S. students, a New York Times editorial and a letter to POTUS, and February 10 comments relating to Libya's chairmanship of the AU and potential cooperation with the U.S. - that appear to be part of an orchestrated effort by the GOL to engage the new U.S. administration and remind it of Libya's strategic importance. On January 21, Muammar al-Qadhafi participated in a direct video conference (DVC) with students and Georgetown University. Billed as a talk on his proposal - dubbed "Isratine" - for a one-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian problem and clearly designed to showcase Libya and remind the new administration of its strategic importance in the wake of implementing the comprehensive U.S.-Libya claims agreement last October, al-Qadhafi nonetheless could not resist the opportunity to address topics sure to occasion unfavorable attention from the U.S.  Characterizing terrorism as "a dwarf and not a giant", he described Osama bin Laden as "a person who can be given a chance to reform" and suggested that the world engage him in a dialogue to determine what had prompted him to undertake terrorism.  Similarly, he claimed that the Taliban had been mis-represented and suggested that the U.S. reconsider its views on that group, too.  In widely reported remarks, he also suggested that falling oil prices had prompted demands by members of the Basic People's Congresses that Libya slow or cease oil production and/or nationalize its oil industry to spur higher prices (see ref A for details and analysis).

    ¶6. (C) On January 22, an editorial ostensibly authored by al-Qadhafi appeared in the New York Times.  In it, he expostulated his "Isratine" solution, an idea he first articulated in the "White Book".  Rejecting proposals for a two-state solution or partition as strategically, economically and demographically untenable, he instead argued for a single, democratic state, with Jerusalem as the unified capital (or with status as an international city) and right of return for members  TRIPOLI 00000133  003.2 OF 005   of the Palestinian diaspora.  While Libya has at the UN likened Israeli actions to those of Germany's Third Reich and al-Qadhafi has previously said that "as long as I am alive I will never recognize either an Israeli state or a Palestinian one", the editorial (Post has not yet learned who ghost-authored it) was relatively measured in tone.  Al-Qadhafi's letter to the POTUS, doubtless also intended to ingratiate, nonetheless struck a bit of a wrong note.  In it, he expressed hope that the U.S. had, with the POTUS' election, "...started to transform from a country that supports reactionism (sic) and autocracy to one that supports popular democracy...". The outreach coincided with other recent,positive steps: the first U.S. Ambassador to Libya since 1972 relatively quickly presented his credentials on January 11 (ref B) and has slowly but surely been afforded access to high-level interlocutors , the GOL has agreed to facilitate a visit by U.S. Africa Command's General Ward, and MFA A/S-equivalent Ahmed Fituri led a delegation to Washington in early January that signed a memorandum of understanding on military-to-military cooperation and discussed security and other issues.

    ... BUT OLD HABITS PROVE TO BE AS STUBBORN AS MULES

    ¶7. (C) Despite the (mixed) effort to extend a hand to the new administration, manifestations of lingering ambivalence about re-engaging with the U.S. simultaneously emerged on the ground here.  On January 22 - the day al-Qadhafi's editorial appeared - the former Deputy Secretary of the general People's Congress (Deputy Prime Minister-equivalent) and current Director of the Green Book Center, Ahmed Ibrahim, gave remarks at a public conference in which he excoriated Libya's political opposition, decried restored U.S.-Libyan relations as "a great sin" and called on Libyans to shun the new U.S. Ambassador, whom he described as "a rotten dog".  (Note: The Green Book Center is a government institution dedicated to the study of al-Qadhafi's Green Book trilogy and political thought.  Libyans say Ibrahim was assigned to the GBC because while he can still command a public platform there, he has no real authority.  End note.) Ibrahim is a long-time regime fixture - he has held the posts of Minister of Information-equivalent, Minister of Culture-equivalent, Minister of Higher Education-equivalent and head of the Revolutionary Committees - and represents the most ideologically conservative regime elements. (Note: His widely unpopular decision to ban the teaching of English and other foreign languages in schools in the 1980's earned him the sobriquet "el Bahim", which translates as "the donkey" in the Libyan and Tunisian dialects.  End note.)

    ¶8. (C) MFA A/S-equivalent for the Americas Ahmed Fituri told the Ambassador on January 29 that he was "puzzled" by the remarks and said Ibrahim "spoke only for himself, and not for the government".  But he conceded that there are still powerful individuals in Libya who strongly oppose an improved relationship with the United States, who stand to lose a great deal if the existing system changes significantly, and who view the U.S. as a likely catalyst of such reform.  Ibrahim himself is under attack for human rights abuses perpetrated by the Revolutionary Committees in the 1970's and 1980's, including having personally tortured regime opponents and prosecuted an at times bloody campaign against members of the Libyan diaspora. In his remarks on January 22, he flatly said that opposition to the manner in which the al-Qadhafi regime came to power and its legitimacy were "...out of the question and unacceptable in any case".  (Note: His remarks regarding the U.S. and the Ambassador may have been intended to muster support from conservative regime elements and to deflect attention from his personal legal travails.  End note.)

    HUMAN RIGHTS UNMENTIONABLE, CONTACT WITH EMBASSY "VERY SENSITIVE" AND OIL COMPANIES MUST PAY

    ¶9. (C) Also on January 22, a senior MFA Americas Department official demarched us to protest the Ambassador's remarks on human rights in a recently published interview in which he addressed the state of U.S.-Libya relations and the issues on which he intends to focus (ref C).  The Ambassador's mention of recently released regime critic Idriss Boufayed and his call for the release of political prisoners and those of Boufayed's group who remained in detention constituted "unacceptable interference in Libya's internal affairs".  The ambassador should be careful in what he discusses publicly, else there would be "serious repercussions for the bilateral relationship".  Libya was willing to discuss human rights, but such discussions should be restricted to suitable (i.e., private) fora.   TRIPOLI 00000133  004.2 OF 005

    ¶10. (C) The GOL also recently resurrected its periodic campaign to prevent Emboffs from reaching out directly to GOL entities and, in some cases, quasi-governmental organizations.  Meetings with the Ministry of Economy and Trade, the National Oil Corporation and the quasi-governmental Qadhafi Development Foundation were cancelled at the last minute because they had not been coordinated with the MFA-equivalent via diplomatic note.  In addition, a well-informed U.S. business person working with the General National Maritime and Transportation Company (GNMTC) on possible deals for port security equipment suggested that the company be in touch with the Embassy regarding related bilateral training and engagement.  Our contact received a message from Hannibal al-Qadhafi, head of the GNMTC, through a senior aide (who read from notes he said had been handwritten by Hannibal) on February 1 that dealing with the U.S. was still viewed as "extremely sensitive", that the GNMTC would rather pay private consultants than obtain assistance gratis from the USG and that she should minimize her meetings with Emboffs to avoid creating the "wrong impression among GOL officials.  Finally, the NOC renewed its campaign to solicit contributions to the U.S.-Libya comprehensive claims settlement fund, telling international oil company representatives at a meeting on February 1 that they "must contribute" to the fund by February 28 or would suffer "serious consequences" (ref F).

    ¶11. (C) Comment: The DVC, op-ed and POTUS letter reflect a degree of message coordination that seldom obtains in the Jamahiriya, underscoring the importance an anxious regime attaches to cultivating a productive relationship with the new U.S. administration (and likely reflecting external guidance on how to do so).  Nonetheless, slandering the U.S. ambassador, cautioning U.S. businesspeople against meeting with the Embassy, threatening to nationalize oil production and ratcheting up pressure on IOC's to contribute to the claims compensation fund reflect both the regime's limited decision-making capacity and the paradox of the policy it has pursued.  After nearly forty years of dismantling state apparatus as a manifestation of Muammar al-Qadhafi's political philosophy of "direct rule of the masses", the regime has embraced a program of re-engagement with the world and limited political-economic reform that contradict is revolutionary philosophy and far outstrip its limited institutional capacity and ability to stay on message.  Although al-Qadhafi has cultivated an image as a political seer without formal title and nominally above the fray of day-to-day decisionmaking, he has effectively kept his hand in (see ref G).  His mercurial nature, together with his habit of maintaining deliberate ambiguity on sensitive issues to maintain room for tactical maneuver, have fueled confusion within the regime about the direction in which Libya is heading.  Example: He has quietly supported initiatives to develop a draft constitution, but publicly dismissed calls by his son, Saif al-Islam al-Qadhafi, for such a document and has not clearly signaled to conservative regime elements that he would support it.

    ¶12. (C) Comment (continued): The apparent contradictions are not coincidental: al-Qadhafi and other senior regime figures have effectively played for time since 2003, quietly pursuing improved relations with the U.S. and western powers and initiating (to an extent) overdue internal reforms while simultaneously seeking to reassure skeptical conservative regime elements that their positions and prerogatives will not be hurt by those initiatives.  They have manipulated, with varying degrees of success, opaque and ill-defined lines of authority and decisionmaking within the GOL to:
    1) avoid the emergence of alternative centers of power;
    2) maintain control, and;
    3) avoid directly addressing the contradiction between the regime's revolutionary rhetoric and the reality of its recent policy shifts.  But that tactical advantage has come at the expense of institutional capacity and the ability to clearly coordinate the regime's message in those few instances in which it wishes to unambiguously do so (as in its recent outreach to us). Al-Qadhafi has successfully exploited a policy of deliberate ambiguity for decades; however, the increasingly apparent contradiction between the regime's limited reform efforts and re-engagement with the broader world, on the one hand, and its revolutionary rhetoric and reluctance to clearly state its policies, on the other, have begun to out-strip its ability to maintain that delicate balance.  As conservative regime elements feel increasingly threatened by the sands shifting beneath their feet, they have begun to dig in their heels, further complicating al-Qadhafi's efforts to square the circle between an old guard whose livelihood will be seriously impacted by proposed reforms and a new, more predictable system in which ordinary Libyans can more productively participate.  Declining oil revenues and an attendant recalculation of the state budget  TRIPOLI 00000133  005.2 OF 005   and reduction of infrastructure development progams, together with recent events in Gaza, have further taxed the system and contributed to the prevailing sense of confusion.  The consequences for the U.S.-Libya bilateral relationship are that efforts to expand cooperation and engagement will remain fitful for the foreseeable future and that the regime will continue to send seemingly contradictory messages about the nature of the relationship it wants with us.  End comment.
    CRETZ

`