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DE RUEHSF #1695/01 3551333
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 211333Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY SOFIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2994
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SOFIA 001695 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/NCE MNORDBERG 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM LBY BU
SUBJECT: BULGARIAN GOVERNMENT DROPS "SILENT DIPLOMACY;" 
PUBLIC/POLITICIANS STEP UP OUTRAGE AGAINST LIBYA 
 
Ref: (A) Tripoli 749, (B) Sofia 01683 
 
SOFIA 00001695  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The death sentences passed by a Tripoli court on 
five Bulgarian nurses Dec. 19 triggered mounting outrage in Bulgaria 
as politicians, NGOs, the public and the press lashed out at Libya 
for holding a deeply politicized trial and called for international 
support.  Over the course of December 19-20, Bulgarian officials 
further hardened their stance, blasting Qadhafi's regime for 
basically making a mockery of justice.  Others accused Tripoli of 
using the nurses as racketeering tools for gaining financial payout, 
and holding them hostage as bargaining chips in Tripoli's power 
games with the West.  Politicians and media declared "the end of the 
silent diplomacy era" and agreed that only increased pressure on 
Libya can save the medics.  The President, the Prime Minister and 
the Speaker of Parliament sent a joint address to the leaders of EU 
and NATO states, calling for their intervention in the case.  Civic 
groups organized rallies, politicians seem to be out-doing each 
other in their indignation, and business called for a boycott of 
Libya.  To highlight the gravity of the issue, Bulgaria is mulling 
curbing celebrations for its EU accession on New Year's eve. END 
SUMMARY 
 
¶2. (U) Bulgarian officials have further hardened their stance on the 
Libyan HIV case in the two days following the Tripoli Criminal Court 
decision to confirm the death sentences of the five Bulgarian nurses 
and a Palestinian doctor accused of deliberately infecting more than 
400 Libyan children with HIV. (Ref. A, B)  In an unprecedented move, 
President Georgi Parvanov, Parliament Speaker Georgi Pirinksi and PM 
Sergei Stanishev sent a joint letter to the leaders of the EU and 
NATO member states, the UN and the Council of Europe, calling for 
their intervention to save the medics.  They note the legal 
omissions made by the Libyan Court, its refusal to consider  the 
opinions of leading scientists on HIV and AIDs, and the violations 
of the nurses' human rights.  "For eight years now, the Bulgarian 
nurses and the Palestinian doctor have been denied justice.  For 
eight years now, they have been subjected to physical and 
psychological coercion and have now reached the limit of human 
endurance," Bulgaria's top statesmen said.  Noting that Bulgaria 
will join the EU on January 1, the three leaders called for a common 
stand on the case, and urged "more active support" for the release 
of the innocent nurses. 
 
¶3. (U) President Parvanov talked late Dec. 19 to his French 
Counterpart President Jacques Chirac.  According to a press release 
by the Bulgarian presidency, Chirac confirmed his conviction that 
the Bulgarian nurses condemned in Libya are innocent.  Chirac 
expressed France's absolute solidarity and confirmed the readiness 
of all EU member-states, including his country, to continue the 
efforts for achieving a just solution to the case of the Bulgarian 
medical nurses. 
 
¶4. (U) Foreign Minister Ivailo Kalfin, talking to CNN, also called 
for international support to save the medics, jailed in Libya since 
¶1999.  He said Bulgaria and the international community should do 
their best to resolve the case and persuade Libya that the legal 
mechanisms for solving this case have not been exhausted.  His 
deputy, Feim Chaushev, who met with the five nurses in Tripoli on 
Dec. 20, told Bulgarian media that they felt abandoned and extremely 
exhausted.  He said the nurses feared that if they are released the 
Libyans may infect them with the HIV virus out of revenge. 
 
¶5. (U) Parliament Speaker Pirinski vowed that Bulgarian MPs would 
use any opportunity to raise the issue about the nurses' fate in 
parliamentary assemblies and parliamentary forums, urging other 
countries to take a more categorical stand.  He was backed by 
ex-President Petar Stoyanov, the current leader of the main 
opposition center-right group and a former advocate of restrained 
actions and silent diplomacy, who said Bulgaria "should adopt a much 
more categorical and firm tone in respect to Qadhafi's regime." 
"The time for diplomacy is over, there is nothing to lose now," he 
said. 
 
¶6. (U) Chief Prosecutor Boris Velchev reiterated that Bulgaria would 
press charges against those who have tortured the nurses while in 
Libyan prison, and ordered the National Investigation Service to 
start working on the case.  He admitted, however, that work on this 
case will be a challenge since the investigators, at least for now, 
won't be able to question either the nurses or the Libyan officers. 
 
 
LIBYA "HOLDS THE NURSES HOSTAGE", "RACKETEERS FOR MONEY" 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶7. (U) Not surprisingly, the bluntest wording came from Sofia Mayor 
Boiko Borissov, a populist who owes his persistent high approval 
ratings largely to his plain and direct language.  Borissov, who 
launched his GERB political party only few weeks ago, said the 
"nurses have been kidnapped" and "held as hostages by Libya."  "They 
 
SOFIA 00001695  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
are being used as a tool for blackmailing the international 
community for money," Borissov said, and called for "total isolation 
of Libya."  He blasted the Bulgarian authorities for their 
unsuccessful efforts to resolve the case by using silent diplomacy, 
and called on the government to cancel celebrations for Bulgaria's 
entry into the EU.  "We don't want to downplay the fact that we are 
joining the large European family; we wish to alert the 
Euro-Atlantic community that it is of the utmost importance that the 
government, politicians, all institutions and civil society do the 
impossible to help our compatriots," his GERB party said in a 
statement.  The Mayor said that on Christmas Eve, Sofia will switch 
off street lights and decorations for five minutes as a sign of 
compassion with the five medics.  Former Foreign Minister Solomon 
Passy cancelled a private party for his 50th birthday. 
 
¶8. (U) Georgi Gatev, one of the medics' lawyers, also referred to 
the nurses as "hostages" and was categorical that the Libyan courts 
could not be trusted and "international pressure was the only 
solution."  The Bulgarian medics are hostages of Libya's power games 
with the West and are being "used as bargaining chips for gaining 
monetary compensation," he said.  Bulgarian analysts following 
Libya's domestic affairs commented on the political sensitivity of 
the issue in the Arab state as Qadhafi struggled to appease the 
infected children's families and avoid troubles in the Benghazi area 
where he has traditionally enjoyed less popularity. 
 
BULGARIANS SHOW SOLIDARITY WITH NURSES 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (U) The shrillest and most bizarre proposal on how to resolve the 
issue came from extreme nationalist Volen Siderov who called for 
arresting five Libyan nationals in Bulgaria and exchanging them for 
the nurses.  Siderov urged the government to immediately halt 
diplomatic ties with Libya and blasted the U.S. and the EU for 
failing to help Bulgaria on the matter despite repeated pledges to 
do so.  Ataka supporters  protested late Dec. 19 in front of the 
Libyan embassy in Sofia.  Doctors and nurses from hospitals across 
the country protested against the sentences of their colleagues. 
Protest rallies were held in many places in Bulgaria, although 
attendance was moderate. 
 
¶10. (U) The Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry condemned the 
death sentences.  "Under the circumstances, the Chamber cannot 
continue encouraging Bulgarian businesses to broaden their contacts 
with Libya because the Chamber cannot assure Bulgarian companies 
that their safety in Libya is guaranteed," the Chamber said.  The 
Confederation of Independent Trade Unions, Bulgaria's biggest trade 
union, urged Bulgarians working in Libya to leave the country. 
"Their labor and human rights will find no protection there," the 
union said in a statement.  The Bulgarian Helsinki Committee 
expressed indignation as the nurses' death sentences were confirmed 
in Libya and called on the Libyan authorities to release the 
innocent victims. 
 
PRESS HAILS BULGARIAN OFFICIALS' HARDENED STANCE 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶11. (U) The press hailed Sofia's hardened stance on Libya and also 
wrote that international actions now seemed the only solution. 
"Bulgaria Assumes Firmer Position toward Libya after Sentences," 
"Shall We Let Them Be Killed?", "We Will Fight Until the End" were 
some of the front-page headlines Dec. 20. "Only tough measures on 
the part of the U.S. and Europe will startle Libya," the most widely 
circulated newspaper Trud daily wrote.  "The solution is in a sharp, 
quick and open attack.  On Jan. 1, as a fully-fledged EU member, 
Bulgaria should demand a European economic and diplomatic blockade 
of Libya."  "The era of silent diplomacy is over," declared the 24 
Chasa daily, saying the government should not have wasted so much 
time trying to appease Libya.  Commentators called on Bulgaria's 
allies -- the EU and the U.S. -- to increase the pressure on 
Tripoli.  But some noted that while trying to help Bulgaria, both 
the EU and the U.S. have started to revive ties with Libya due to 
their economic interests in the oil-rich Arab state. 
 
¶12. (U) Local media reported extensively on Secretary Rice's Dec. 19 
meeting with Foreign Minister Kalfin.  All local media quoted the 
Embassy statement, released Dec. 20, in which the Ambassador 
expressed deep disappointment about the verdict of the Libyan Court 
and vowed the U.S. would continue to work for the medics' release. 
Local media also noted that Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov had 
appealed for the medics' release, and European Parliament President 
Josep Borell called on the Libyan authorities to reconsider the 
death verdict.  Several media outlets have unfavorably compared 
tough European and Russian reactions to U.S. statements. 
 
¶13. (SBU) COMMENT: Bulgaria's stance on the case has continued to 
harden since the confirmation of the death sentences, with even 
moderate politicians increasingly using harsh language to blast 
 
SOFIA 00001695  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
Libya.  Much of it comes from emotion and frustration, not tactical 
political/diplomatic considerations.  Issues such as Libya's 
politicized trial and the duress of the five nurses, that until 
recently had been off-limits for official statements on the case, 
are now exploited freely in Sofia's mounting campaign for 
international intervention.  Although some of the maneuvering is 
clearly political one-upsmanship, the Bulgarian leaders want to send 
a clear signal to Libya, the EU and the world about how seriously 
Bulgaria takes this issue.  We can expect greater Bulgarian 
activism, especially in the EU, in 2007 if the issue drags on.  END 
COMMENT 
KARAGIANNIS