SECURING UNDELIVERED IRAQI MEDIA EQUIPMENT -- PRELIMINARY REPORT ON TURKISH COMPANY

UNCLAS ANKARA 006534 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EFIN IZ KPAO TU SUBJECT: SECURING UNDELIVERED IRAQI MEDIA EQUIPMENT -- PRELIMINARY REPORT ON TURKISH COMPANY REF: A. STATE 284988 ¶B. SMITH-DONNELLY E-MAIL ¶1. Istanbul Pol/Econ chief contacted the Al Huda San company, which ref a identified as the company which prior to the war had contracted to ship USD 17,881,020 worth of media equipment to Iraq. He spoke with one company official, Ahmet Cakir, who had been involved in the early stages of the deal. Cakir said when Coalition troops entered Iraq, The Turkish government informed the company that the tender was no longer valid, and the deal collapsed. He added that he had no idea where the equipment is and claimed the Al Huda San company had never received payment for the equipment. He noted that Al Huda is a partnership with an individual in Dubai, Mr. Wadi Handal, whose phone no. is 00971-4-268-5044. Istanbul hopes to meet with Al Huda San owner Yunus Takak next week to clarify this information. ¶2. Embassy Ankara will follow up with GOT officials to determine if they were aware of the deal and whether other aspects of Cakir's story ring true. Embassy requests that CPA fax the equipment list to Kurt Donnelly Econ/Ankara (fax number 312 468-6138) and Stuart Smith/Istanbul (fax number 212 335-9355). EDELMAN