Paul Haviland: Libya Holds Six Hostages - the Bulgarian Medics

Novinite Insider » INTERVIEW | December 8, 2004, Wednesday // 00:00
Paul Haviland: Libya Holds Six Hostages - the Bulgarian Medics Paul Carington Haviland. Photo from Mr Haviland's personal archive.

Paul Haviland* is a coordinator of the Bulgarian Medics Solidarity Project (www.nishand.org), which provides for fund raising for the families of convicted medics. It aims to raise as much money as possible to be donated directly to the children and immediate families of Bulgarian nurses Kristiyana Valcheva, Nasiya Nenova, Valentina Siropulo, Valya Chervenyashka, Snezhana Dimitrova and their co-accused, the Palestinian doctor Ashraf al-Hajuj.

Mr Paul Haviland talked to Sofia News Agency Editor Ivelina Puhaleva over the latest developments in the efforts to acquit and release the Bulgarian medics sentenced to death in Libya.



Q: How do you see the latest statement by the Libyan Foreign Minister suggesting the freedom of the Bulgarian medics could be paid off through Bulgaria providing compensation to the AIDS-stricken families and children?

A: Let us be clear: the medics are now emerging as pawns in a very complex game of international political chess. The background is to be found in Lockerbie, the UTA bombing and the LaBelle discotheque.

In essence, Tripoli is saying to the West: "You blamed us for Lockerbie and other outrages which harmed your citizens, and we paid the compensation you demanded - even though we don't accept responsibility for these tragedies. Now we are turning the tables on you: we are blaming you (Europe, the West) for the HIV tragedy in Benghazi. Like you, we demand compensation, whether or not you accept responsibility for the tragedy."

Essentially the Libyans have taken six hostages in revenge for what they see as the injustice of the Lockerbie trial and the compensation they have paid out in the last 18 months to American, British, German and French victims of terrorist outrages dating from the late 1990s.

It is possible that this has been the Libyan game-plan all along: that in 1999 they realised the Al-Fateh hospital tragedy would eventually provide them with bargaining power. But whether or not the Libyans foresaw it at the time, they are well aware that humanitarian concern for the six medics can now be exploited to serve Colonel Gaddafi's political aims. This is the sad reality today, and the Benghazi Six are helplessly caught up in a game of diplomatic poker.

Q: Do you believe Bulgarian government would miss a chance to save its medics if it continues refusing the pay-off option?

A: The Bulgarian government is taking a principled stand, and it is really the only stand it can respectably take. Governments cannot be seen to give in to hostage-takers; that would be a form of appeasement, which no politician could live with.

But the matter is not entirely in the hands of the Bulgarian government, as we know. The US, Britain, France and Italy are all now deeply involved in this case and it cannot be resolved without their input and their help.

Q: While on his visit to Sofia this week, French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier denied disclosing how exactly President Chirac had tried to talk Muammar Qaddafi into the release of Bulgarians. Do you doubt Chirac had at all referred to this issue?

A: Colonel Gaddafi, who apparently thinks of himself as some sort of Messiah of pan-African socialism, takes a very dim view of France's continuing influence in Africa.

Remember that Jacques Chirac has strong personal ties with many African leaders, and France remains a powerful post-colonial player on that continent. These two men see themselves as rivals in shaping Africa's future. The atmosphere between them would probably have been quite tense.

I don't know if Mr Chirac's strategy was to make Colonel Gaddafi feel more comfortable during their meeting by not mentioning the medics, or whether he was willing to add to the existing tensions by addressing the subject directly.

However, it was certainly Chirac's moral duty to raise the issue (particularly in the light of Dr Luc Montagnier's key role in establishing the innocence of the accused) and I think we can assume that he did.

Q: Do you find "constructive" - as Michel Barnier said - the Libyan declaration offering ground for talks of compensations?

A: "Constructive" is a code-word for the point in negotiations where diplomats can see a way forward, however unpalatable. It might even mean that specific sums of money are about to be discussed. I suppose it is "constructive" in the ordinary sense of the word, because the Libyans are now openly admitting that the medics' freedom is a question of money. In other words, they have finally stated their terms.

Q: Libya has suggested negotiating the matter with Bulgaria, but in the meanwhile the letter formulating Libya's conditions had been addressed to European doctors, not to Bulgaria? How would you comment this?

A: Again, it all goes back to Lockerbie. Libya knows that Bulgaria cannot, on its own, find the huge sums of money, which will be demanded. If a ransom is going to be paid for the six hostages, then someone other than Bulgaria, with very deep pockets, is going to have to come forward and make an offer.

I'm only guessing, but I suppose that Libya would like to see the Americans pay, along with the British, French and Germans.

Q: How much do you think Libya could ask in compensation?

A: The sky is the limit, as we say in English. Libya agreed to payments totalling just over USD 2.9 B in compensation for the Pan Am, UTA and Berlin bombings. Colonel Gaddafi probably does not expect to get all of that money back.

Sadly and shamefully, we are in the realm of horse-trading here. The diplomats will call it "negotiation" but everyone else knows this is haggling in a souk. Would anyone be surprised if the final figure turned out to be approximately half that amount?

Q: There is an appeal from some local organisations to raise funds for the Bulgarian medics in Libya. Do you think it would be appropriate and of help to them?

A: Let's be realistic. If the idea is to raise money to hand to the Libyan government, I think that is probably not going to help. Tripoli will not be satisfied with a few thousand lev!

If, however, the idea is to raise money to build a hospital or to pay for treatment for the infected children, one cannot argue against that. I would never argue against donating to help the ill.

I would simply say that if Bulgarians are going to unite in a charitable fundraising drive, they really ought to consider that the medics' families need help NOW, and the medics themselves will need help, treatment and compensation LATER, when they are released (as I hope and pray they soon will be).

Q: US State Secretary Colin Powell declared that "we have been pressing the Libyans at every opportunity"? In your opinion, what could be the next opportunity?

A: Sadly, Colin Powell won't be getting many more opportunities, since he'll be leaving his post very soon. His successor, we know, will be focused on one thing: the US war on international (specifically Islamist) terrorism. I suppose that this will increasingly dominate all US diplomatic activity, along with the price of oil. Therefore I am not hopeful about the direction, which US diplomacy will be taking in the near future.

I think the US, far from putting pressure on Libya, will be asking Libya for favours: help in apprehending Islamist terror suspects, help in keeping the price of oil stable. It looks to me as if Colonel Gaddafi will soon have more friends in Washington than he or anyone else ever dreamt possible.

Q: Has your organisation sought to establish contacts with any Libyan non-governmental organisation to partner for the release of the medics?

A: No, we have concentrated our efforts exclusively on raising funds for the medics' families and raising awareness of the case in Britain and other English-speaking countries.

We are a tiny group of people and have only limited time and resources, and have no plans to play any role within Libya itself, other than making the authorities there aware that this case is not taking place in a vacuum, and that many people around the world feel strongly that the medics are innocent and should be freed immediately and unconditionally.

Q: Do you plan any initiatives in the near future concerning the Bulgarian medics in Libya?

A: Our latest initiative is to try to get people all around the world to send seasonal greetings by post to the medics, as they face their sixth Christmas in prison. We would ask everyone to make a small gesture this year, and send a Christmas or New Year's card to the medics. Details of how to do this are posted on our website, www.nishand.org.

If thousands of cards are sent to them, the Libyan authorities cannot ignore the fact that this is a human rights issue that people around the world feel strongly about. And of course it is one way of boosting the morale of the prisoners on death row.

We now await developments in the Libyan courts, expected quite soon, before deciding on the next initiative we can take to publicise the plight of the medics. The biggest battle we are facing is ignorance.

We have said all along that this is probably the worst miscarriage of justice of the 21st century, yet too many people are unaware of it. We want to mobilise the energies of ordinary people, in the same way as campaigners in the past gained support in fighting other shameful injustices, such as the imprisonment of Nelson Mandela in South Africa or the Birmingham Six in Britain.


* Paul Carrington Haviland was born 1949 in Toronto (Canada) and now is living in London as British national.

Holder of a BA with High Honors from the US Eckerd College and a UK Linguists Diploma in Translation, Mr Haviland is a member of the British Institute of Linguists.

His career went through teaching of English and French in Burkina, France, Morocco, Canada and the UK. He is also working as a free-lance translator.

Before starting his current work at the Independent Television Facilities Centre in 1997, he was working in the BBC World Service.

His books of translation include "Capitalism Against Capitalism" by Michel Albert (Whurr, London, 1995) and "The Blue Line" by Daniel de Roulet (Autonomedia, Brooklyn, 2000).

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!

Interview » Be a reporter: Write and send your article

Advertisement
Advertisement
Bulgaria news Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) is unique with being a real time news provider in English that informs its readers about the latest Bulgarian news. The editorial staff also publishes a daily online newspaper "Sofia Morning News." Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) and Sofia Morning News publish the latest economic, political and cultural news that take place in Bulgaria. Foreign media analysis on Bulgaria and World News in Brief are also part of the web site and the online newspaper. News Bulgaria