VZCZCXRO1668
PP RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHRN
DE RUEHTRO #0309 1061656
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P R 161656Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4720
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE
RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI 5249

C O N F I D E N T I A L TRIPOLI 000309 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/MAG AND AF 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  4/16/2019 
TAGS: PREL AU MARR ETRD LY
SUBJECT: AL-QADHAFI CALLS FOR SUPRANATIONAL AU TO INCLUDE COMMON 
FOREIGN POLICY 
 
REF: TRIPOLI 298 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Gene Cretz, Ambassador. REASON: 1.4 (b), (d)

1.(C) According to the Egyptian embassy, the on-going extraordinary ministerial meeting of the African Union in Tripoli has unfolded as expected - with Muammar al-Qadhafi making grandiose statements calling for a supranational body and "gradualist" states like Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa countering that the AU must remain an intergovernmental body that respects state sovereignty. Delegates were to discuss an AU Commission report on modalities for further integration, but the Libyan hosts withdrew the report immediately before the meeting. Several states, reportedly led by Namibia, complained and called on the Commission to release the report to member states.

2.(C) Al-Qadhafi reportedly used the forum to call for still greater expansion of AU executive powers - which he has previously envisaged as controlling continental defense, trade, and economy - to include a common foreign policy set by the central authority. Delegates reportedly referred the matter to a committee which is to use the withdrawn AU Commission report, the earlier Dakar report on integration, and al-Qadhafi's April 15 speech as a framework. The Egyptian embassy was unsure whether the committee's findings would be presented April 16 or at the July AU summit meeting; al-Qadhafi reportedly "promised to present a surprise" at the July meeting during his remarks. The Egyptian embassy described the proceedings as political theater that made "no progress" toward al-Qadhafi's vision of a federal United States of Africa. DELEGATES COMMEMORATE 1986 ATTACKS ON TRIPOLI, BENGHAZI

3.(C) Members of the visiting delegations were also invited to the April 14 commemoration of the 1986 U.S. bombings of Tripoli and Benghazi (Operation El Dorado Canyon) - an annual event held at al-Qadhafi's Bab al-Aziziyah compound in Tripoli. Past years have featured prominent public speeches and demonstrations. In contrast, Egyptian delegates described the event as much more subdued without speeches by al-Qadhafi or the Foreign Minister Musa Kusa. Instead, guests were treated to a dinner and a special documentary on the attacks (described as "rhetorical and ideological" but not inflammatory). CRETZ