December 8, 2007

Honorable Nicolas Sarkozy

Elysee Palace
55 Rue du Faubourg
Saint-Honoree, 75008
Paris, France

Dear Mr. President:

On Monday, December 10, you will be receiving the ruler of Libya, Muamar Ghaddafi. This is the dictator who ruled Libya for the last 38 years. He violated all international standards of human rights. I want to convey to you on behalf of the Libyan Opposition Conference our strong opposition to this meeting.

The record shows that since 1969, Libya not only did not experience or practice any form of democracy, but is a nation that is under the total control of a ruthless dictator. His acts are documented by human rights organizations, the United Nations, foreign governments and the U.S. State Department which until recently listed Libya on the list of terrorist nations.

Ghaddafi not only practiced some of the worst form of human rights violations against his people, but also engaged in irresponsible adventures beyond the borders of Libya. Thousands of innocent Libyan soldiers and officers and countless numbers of Chadian civilians who were killed, is a testimony to that. This is the same regime that got involved in the internal matters of sovereign nations such as Uganda, Tunisia, Egypt, Indonesia and many other countries. It should be noted that this is the only regime in the Middle East that was indicted for the killing of U.S. civilians in Lockerbie in 1988 and the killing of your own citizens in the UTA incident.

We in the Libyan Opposition Conference are calling for the return to the constitutional legitimacy manifested by the constitution of 1951, which was granted under the auspices of the United Nations and was abolished in Ghaddafi’s coup in September, 1969. We are working toward establishing true democratic institutions that are based on the separation of powers, the protection of individual freedoms and the rule of law. We are aiming to achieve the goals of democratization of Libya through peaceful means, mainly civil disobedience.

We in the democratic opposition are calling on France to support the effort of change and reform in Libya. We are not asking for military support or taxpayer money. We are asking for political and moral support.

Ghaddafi does not represent the Libyan people and we strongly believe that he is not a strategic ally of France. We think that the interest of both peoples is better served by clearly supporting the cause of change and democracy in Libya.

Respectfully,

Dr. Ali Tarhouni

Political Coordinator

National Conference of the Libyan Opposition

Seattle, Washington