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RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS 0244
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 0025
RUESKT/AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM 0007
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RUEOMFD/USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUEHTRO/USLO TRIPOLI

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 BAMAKO 000443 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF, AF/W, AF/SPG, NEA/MAG, INR 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/14/2016 
TAGS: PREL PINR PGOV EINV LY ML
SUBJECT: THE "FRERE GUIDE" QADHAFI CAUSES A STIR IN MALI 
 
REF: A. DAKAR 00877 (NOTAL) 
     ¶B. BAMAKO 00421 (NOTAL) 
     ¶C. BAMAKO 00321 (NOTAL) 
 
BAMAKO 00000443  001.2 OF 004 
 
 
Classified By: Classified by: Ambassador Terence P. McCulley, Embassy B 
amako, 
Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Libyan leader Mouammar Qadhafi arrived to 
great fanfare in Mali on April 6 to celebrate the April 11 
prophet Mohammed,s birthday (Mawloud).  After a two-day stay 
in Bamako, Qadhafi and Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure 
(ATT) headed on a 2-day road trip to Timbuktu.  In a 
controversial move, Qadhafi led the Mawloud prayer and 
delivered an inflammatory speech, glorifying Islam and 
calling for collective armed opposition to foreign influence 
in the Sahara region.  Qadhafi and regional religious leaders 
went on to sign a 8Grand Sahara8 Pact for a unified front 
against imperialism.  Qadhafi also used the opportunity to 
privately meet with recently resurfaced Malian national guard 
deserter and former rebel leader Fagaga, while at the same 
time snubbing local Malian authorities.  The Mawloud 
festivities proved to be a logistical nightmare, and foreign 
dignitaries and visitors alike were largely left without 
hosts, accommodations, and food.  Not all were surprised by 
Qadhafi,s provocative sermon, as the Mawloud event in 
Timbuktu had been hyped long before Qadhafi,s arrival as a 
counterpoint to the Danish cartoons controversy.  Still, his 
divisive comments and the disastrous logistics of the 
Libyan-organized event seriously undermined Qadhafi,s image 
and public confidence in his commitment to Malian 
development.  END SUMMARY. 
 
--------------------- 
POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE 
--------------------- 
 
¶2. (C)  Qadhafi,s arrival was by no means a subtle affair. 
Week-long tributes and announcements in the major newspapers 
and posters and flags all over the capital city made the 
Guide,s visit one of the most hyped and publicized events in 
Mali,s recent history.  The government newspaper 
&L,Essor8 described Qadhafi,s arrival in Mali as a moment 
of &intense joy,8 as the Guide was greeted at the Bamako 
airport by an official delegation led by President Toure, 
music, dance, and folklore.  Visibly enjoying the elaborate 
welcome, Qadhafi stated, &I am delighted to come back once 
more to my second homeland and to be with my dear brother, 
ATT.  I am not a foreigner, Mali is my country and I say it 
sincerely.8 
 
¶3. (C)  Following his visit to Mali,s capital, Qadhafi 
embarked on a two-day road trip to Timbuktu with ATT, though 
the Guide apparently lost track of the Malian president en 
route, arriving in Timbuktu without him.  The scene in 
Timbuktu, Qadhafi,s destination for the Mawloud holiday, was 
an even greater spectacle than the capital.  Embassy staff 
traveled to Timbuktu days before the arrival to find the city 
transformed into a Libyan town.  Posters of the &Frere 
Guide8 up to 30 feet in size, African maps with Libya 
highlighted, and welcome banners in both Arabic and French 
lined the streets.  In Timbuktu,s stadium, the venue for the 
Mawloud prayer, pictures of Qadhafi flanked the stage and 
walls, illuminated by flood lighting that was visible from 
miles away and temporarily interrupted the city,s power 
supply.  The green flags and pictures of the Guide throughout 
town far outnumbered Mali,s national flags and posters of 
Malian President ATT.  Tent villages ) including a small 
fortress for the Guide himself, complete with air conditioned 
and electrified living quarters, security fencing, and guard 
posts ) sprung up all around town. 
 
-------------- 
IMAM FOR A DAY 
-------------- 
 
¶4. (C)  Qadhafi made few friends with his posture during his 
visit to the City of 333 Saints.  The Guide arrived two hours 
before ATT and sped around the city, ignoring official 
attempts to greet him and present him with the key to the 
city, and instead basking in the crowd,s cheers.  The Guide 
proceeded to unilaterally move the Mawloud prayer from 
Tuesday, April 11, to Monday, April 10, and, according to 
 
BAMAKO 00000443  002.2 OF 004 
 
 
officials, &scandalized8 the religious authorities by 
leading the Mawloud prayer rather than ceding the stage to 
Timbuktu,s Grand Imam Essayouti.  Most newspapers noted 
Qadhafi,s leading the prayer as unusual, with some harshly 
criticizing the Libyan president for &playing Imam.8 
 
----------------------------------------- 
A SAHARAN PACT AGAINST FOREIGN INFLUENCE 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (C)  Adding to the controversy, Qadhafi delivered a 95 
minute incendiary speech glorying Islam and blasting the 
imperialist influence of foreign governments and NGOs in what 
witnesses described as &very poor Arabic,8 translated into 
even poorer French.  Qadhafi,s visit followed on the heels 
of already controversial comments made in Dakar on the 
occasion of Senegal,s independence celebrations (Ref A). 
Spectators in Timbuktu were left confused and disoriented by 
the Guide,s ramblings.  In the speech, Qadhafi called for 
all humans to adopt Islam as their religion and used 
citations from the Koran to identify Islam as the only 
religion accepted by God.  Qadhafi called for the northern 
tribes to take up arms against foreign spies and 
fundamentalists, oddly naming several international NGOs, 
including MSF (Doctors Without Borders) among those unwanted 
entities.  According to Embassy contacts, he stated that 
presidents Bush and Chirac, as well as other Western leaders, 
are &as impure as beads of sweat8 and advocated for the 
creation of a unified Sahara from Mauritania to Iraq as a 
&tinderbox, in which imperialism will perish.8  Qadhafi 
assembled various dignitaries and religious figures on the 
margins of the festivities to sign a &Grand Sahara8 
charter, though the content of the alleged agreement has not 
been publicized. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
QADHAFI,S PASSIONATE TIRADE RINGS HALLOW 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (C)  In reference to the Danish cartoons depicting the 
prophet Mohammed, Qadhafi described the cartoons as an insult 
to all believers.  Continuing his bizarre and confusing 
commentary, Qadhafi went on to say that true freedom of 
expression would call for depictions of Jesus with a nuclear 
bomb on his head or surrounded by naked women, since 
Christians had invented the atomic bomb and embraced female 
nudity.  Qadhafi questioned the authenticity of the Bible, 
arguing that only the Barnabas Gospel, which states that 
Islam would replace Christianity, can be considered the real 
biblical text.  He cited the presence of many Muslims in 
Europe and the US as a sign that Islam would one day dominate 
the world. 
 
¶7. (C)  Conveniently, Qadhafi said little to highlight the ) 
to date largely unfulfilled - Libyan contributions to Mali,s 
development.  While in Timbuktu, he did promise to provide 
funds to revive the Niger canal that once provided Timbuktu 
with water at the gates of the city.  Qadhafi also made a 
stop in Segou en route to Timbuktu to ceremonially lay the 
cornerstone for a Libyan-financed new mosque and conference 
center.  With the newly-opened Libyan consulate in Kidal and 
apparent Libyan-Malian fraternity, expectations for Libyan 
development assistance are growing among the northern 
population.  Embassy contacts in the northern regions, 
however, have voiced skepticism that concrete actions will 
follow the numerous promises and proclamations.  Qadhafi also 
disappointed expectations by failing to commit funds for 
desperately needed new roads in the Timbuktu region. 
 
-------------------- 
LOGISTICAL NIGHTMARE 
-------------------- 
 
¶8. (C)  Against most press accounts, the festivities, which 
witnesses claim far surpassed the extravaganza of an earlier 
visit to Timbuktu by French President Jacque Chirac, proved 
to be a logistical nightmare and embarrassment for both 
Libya,s and Mali,s Presidency.  At least 100,000 people, 
more than three times the population of Timbukutu, flocked to 
City of 333 Saints for the festivities.  The crowd far 
exceeded the logistical capacities on the ground, and many 
went without food, beds, and facilities.  In a meeting with 
the Ambassador, Algerian Ambassador Abdelkrim Gheraieb 
 
BAMAKO 00000443  003.2 OF 004 
 
 
described the event as a complete and utter disaster.  Of the 
two dozen invited heads of state, only a handful arrived, in 
part due to poor organization and protocol.  Those present 
included Ely Ould Mohamed Vall of Mauritania, Abdoulaye Wade 
of Senegal, Mamadou Tandja of Niger, and Ahmed Tejan Kabbah 
of Sierra Leone.  Mali,s National Assembly President Ibrahim 
Boubacar Keita, who recently delivered a scathing speech in 
the National Assembly criticizing the president (Ref B), and 
other government officials were also present.  According to 
Ambassador Gheraieb, the diplomatic community was represented 
by six African and Middle Eastern Ambassadors.  Other VIPs 
included the Vice President of Chechnya and a Special 
Emissary of Sudanese President Bashir, though the latter 
apparently returned to Khartoum within only a few hours of 
arriving after being deserted at the airport and left 
stranded at a downtown hotel without accommodations and means 
of contacting the Libyan organizers. 
 
¶9. (C)  Ambassador Gheraieb himself was appalled by the 
substandard treatment the VIPs received and reported the same 
of the Chechen VP, who received a comparable welcome to 
Bashir,s emissary.  According to the Ambassador, air 
conditioning in the hotel rooms and cars did not function, 
and water was unavailable from 9:00 a.m. onwards, prompting 
most of the VIP guests to spend the night outside.  The rest 
of the visitors hardly fared better, with accommodations 
overloaded and supplies short in stock.  Officials admitted 
to food, water, and coal shortages, as well as tremendous 
price hikes and ubiquitous power outages during the 
festivities, but publicly praised Qadhafi,s visit as a 
tremendous economic opportunity for Timbuktu.  Most Timbuktu 
residents expected a food crisis to ensue following the 
delegation,s departure.  Papers estimated the expenditures 
for the city at approximately 1.8 billion FCFA ($US 3 
Million) with only 250 million FCFA (US$ 450,000) in returns. 
 One Embassy source with close ties to Qadhafi stated that 
the Guide had given the equivalent of US$10 Million to 
Timbuktu for the festivities, though papers have reported an 
equally unconfirmed figure between $6-7 million. 
 
----------------------- 
TETE-A-TETE WITH FAGAGA 
----------------------- 
 
¶10. (C) Before leaving Timbuktu, Qadhafi reportedly held a 
private meeting with recently resurfaced Lieutenant Colonel 
Fagaga (Ref C).  Fagaga, whose reintegration in the Malian 
National Guard is still under discussion after several past 
instances of desertion and rebellion, was supposedly flown in 
by Qadhafi especially for the meeting, from which Malian 
officials were excluded.  Fagaga has been a strong proponent 
of increased development assistance for his Tuareg following. 
 His future remains a mystery, and we have not been able to 
confirm rumors of either his reintegration into the Malian 
armed forces or a potential diplomatic role outside the 
country.  Following his meeting with Fagaga, Qadhafi 
supposedly canceled initial plans to visit Kidal and Bamako 
before returning to Libya without a goodbye to the Malian 
president.  Algerian Ambassador Gheraieb reportedly found the 
characteristically outgoing Malian president with his head in 
his hands at the Timbuktu airport, waiting in vain to see the 
Guide off. 
 
-------- 
COMMENT 
-------- 
 
¶11. (C)  The disruption caused by Qadhafi,s visit to Mali 
comes as little surprise in light of the Guide,s reputation 
for extravagance and self-indulgence.  The poor organization 
of the events in Timbuktu, though an embarrassment to ATT,s 
government, appears largely to have been the work of Libyan 
organizers that descended on the city weeks in advance. 
Habitually, the Government of Mali, when in control of large 
representational events in Bamako, ultimately manages to pull 
together a solid, smooth-running function.  The fact that MFA 
protocol and local authorities were apparently left out of 
the loop in the planning process only seems to be further 
evidence of Qadhafi,s arrogant attempts to monopolize 
attention and distract from hollow promises.  There has been 
little evidence to date of concrete Libyan development 
projects in Mali,s North, and the economic boom the Guide,s 
visit to Timbuktu was meant to provide failed to materialize. 
 
BAMAKO 00000443  004.2 OF 004 
 
 
 The visit did little to boost either Qadhafi,s or ATT,s 
image abroad, and Qadhafi,s tirade against foreign influence 
is likely to have largely fallen on deaf ears.  It is 
unlikely Mali,s northern population will put up with a 
repeat of this extravagance without the Libyans delivering on 
their pledges to foster Malian development and growth. 
McCulley