Cablegate: Qadhafi Development Foundation: Fathi El-Jahmi has Returned to His Home

VZCZCXRO8623
OO RUEHTRO
DE RUEHTRO #0375 1291423
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 081423Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3417
INFO RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON IMMEDIATE 0794
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS IMMEDIATE 0472
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS IMMEDIATE 0671
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS IMMEDIATE 0502
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO IMMEDIATE 1090
RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI 3921

C O N F I D E N T I A L TRIPOLI 000375

SIPDIS

NEA/MAG AND DRL E.O. 12958: DECL: 5/8/2018

TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV PINR LY

SUBJECT: QADHAFI DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION: FATHI EL-JAHMI HAS RETURNED TO HIS HOME

CLASSIFIED BY: Chris Stevens, CDA, Embassy Tripoli, Dept of State. REASON: 1.4 (b), (d)

1.(C) Qadhafi Development Foundation (QDF) Executive Director Yussef Sawani informed the CDA on May 8 that Libyan human rights activist and regime critic Fathi el-Jahmi had been discharged from the Tripoli Medical Center (TMC) and has returned to his home, where he is currently in the care of his family. Saying the QDF had "no objection" to the Embassy reaching out to el-Jahmi's family, he cautioned that one of el-Jahmi's sons had asked the QDF to convey to the Embassy that the family does not wish to be contacted or visited by Embassy officers, out of concern that such contact could "create problems." Sawani claimed that el-Jahmi's return to his home demonstrated that he had been "a free man" since his hospitalization at Tripoli Medical Center in summer 2007.

2.(C) Comment: Given the family's alleged desire not to be contacted by the Embassy, Post recommends Department seek confirmation of the report of el-Jahmi's release from his U.S.-based brother, Muhammad el-Jahmi. Sawani did not indicate which family home el-Jahmi had returned to (the family maintains residences in Tripoli and Benghazi), nor did he indicate whether there were any conditions attached to el-Jahmi's discharge from the TMC. Other questions include whether arrangements for needed outpatient medical care have been made and whether the family in fact requested that the Embassy not contact them. End comment.
STEVENS

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