Viewing cable 07TRIPOLI943, REQUEST FOR EXPLANATION OF RETURNED DETAINEE ARM DISABILITY

VZCZCXRO0002
OO RUEHTRO
DE RUEHTRO #0943 3110914
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
O R 070914Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2806
INFO RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI 3227

S E C R E T TRIPOLI 000943 

SIPDIS 

SIPDIS 

DEPT FOR NEA DAS GRAY, NEA/MAG, S/WCI (SHIN, STAMILIO) 

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/6/2032 
TAGS: PTER PREL PHUM PINS PINR LY
SUBJECT: REQUEST FOR EXPLANATION OF RETURNED DETAINEE ARM DISABILITY 

REF: A) STATE 135205; B) STATE 127608; C) JOHNSON-STEVENS/GODFREY E-MAIL 10/15/07; D) TRIPOLI 797; E) TRIPOLI 723 AND PREVIOUS 

CLASSIFIED BY: J. Chris Stevens, DCM, U.S. Embassy Tripoli, Dept 
of State. 
REASON: 1.4 (c), (d) 
¶1. (S/NF) Charge met November 1 with MFA Secretary for the 
Americas Dr. Ahmed Fituri and reiterated Post's request for 
timely access to returned Guantanamo detainee ISN-194 (Muhammad 
Abdallah Mansur al-Rimi) to follow up on ref A and B requests 
for further information on when and how al-Rimi sustained an 
injury to his left arm and suffered the loss of several teeth. 
The CDA also requested access to ISN-557 (Ben Qumu Abu Sufian 
Ibrahim Ahmed Hamouda), who was returned to Libya September 26, 
to assess his condition. 

¶2. (S/NF) Fituri stressed that it has been made clear that the 
ostensibly non-governmental Qadhafi Development Foundation 
(QDF), headed by Saif al-Islam al-Qadhafi, has the lead on 
facilitating access to returned detainees. He implied that the 
MFA was not in a position to offer further assistance and 
recommended that the CDA contact directly the QDF's Executive 
Director, Dr. Yusuf Sawani, and possibly ESO Chief Musa Kusa to 
follow up on the request for access to ISN-194 and ISN-557. The 
CDA pushed back, acknowledging that while the QDF has been 
designated as the organization responsible for facilitating 
Watchdog Committee access to returned detainees, the GOL's MFA 
also has a role to play in helping to ensure that such access is 
granted. Fituri offered no substantive rejoinder. Post has not 
been successful in its subsequent attempts to reach Dr. Sawani 
or our other QDF interlocutors. (Note: Sawani and other Libyan 
contacts are typically only reached by mobile telephone as many 
of their offices lack functioning landlines. Post suspects, but 
cannot confirm, that Sawani and his QDF colleagues are not 
taking our numerous calls to avoid having to discuss this issue. 
End note.) 

¶3. (S/NF) Comment: CDA met with Dr. Sawani in mid-September to 
request access to ISN-194 to follow up on ref B request for 
further information on the nature of his left hand disability 
and tooth loss. Sawani said QDF employees (NFI) conducted a 
"pre-interview" of ISN-194 in mid-September in anticipation of a 
second visit by Emboffs (first visit reported ref E) and were 
told by the detainee that he sustained an injury to his left arm 
during interrogation at GTMO. Post notes that the first (and 
only) visit to ISN-194 came after two and a half months of 
negotiation with the GOL and the QDF. Post notes that the GOL 
has expressed a strong desire for access to all/all Libyan 
national detainees remaining in GTMO (ref D), and recommends 
that such access be explicitly conditioned on the GOL's 
facilitation of the requested visits with ISN-194 and ISN-557. 
End comment. 

MILAM