VZCZCXRO7687
OO RUEHTRO
DE RUEHTRO #0874 3151616
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O R 101616Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4093
INFO RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI 4615
UNCLAS TRIPOLI 000874
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR S/ES-CR, S/ES-O, AND NEA/MAG
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OPDC PREL OVIP LY
SUBJECT: LIBYAN LEADER AL-QADHAFI'S CONGRATULATORY MESSAGE TO THE
PRESIDENT-ELECT
REF: STATE 118192
1. (U) Post received on November 9 via telefax a letter from Leader Muammar al-Qadhafi conveying his congratulations to
the President-elect. We have not yet received the note in hard copy. 2. (SBU) Post's informal translation of the Arabic
language letter follows: Begin text of letter: Dear Mr. President Obama, I have the pleasure to send a congratulation
note for the first time to an American president, and on behalf of all Africa, and of Cen-Sad, the base of the African
pyramid, and on behalf of the Arab Maghreb Union, and in the name of all Arab leaders as I am their dean. Since
relations are resumed between our two countries, we have the right to congratulate you from the bottom of our hearts
because you are the son of Africa. God gives reign to whom He wishes and takes it away from whom He wishes; he holds
dear whom he wants and humiliates whom he wants as well. He retains all the good in His hands, and He is the all
powerful; and He pledged to confer His favors on those deemed weak and to bequeath them the Earth. Blacks were deemed
weak and were oppressed, and were taken to the American continent as slaves and indentured servants. The main point is
that Blacks shall not have an inferiority complex and imitate the Yankees. They have to prove that they are partners to
the whites and sharing the same continent; that the Whites themselves are not indigenous, but that they have come from
overseas; that the black man is not less competent than the white man; and that the black color shall prevail in the
world as predicted by the Green Book. I salute the American people who have chosen you in these historical elections for
such a high position, so that you may lead the change that you have promised them and for which they have rallied around
you. We hope that you lead the United States of America on the path of good and respect peoples' sovereignty and observe
the policy of neutrality. Sincerely, Muammar al-Qadhafi End text. 3. (U) Post will forward the original via diplomatic
pouch if/when we receive it. STEVENS