CONTINUING TO PURSUE RADIO SAWA TRANSMISSION IN

UNCLAS CAIRO 002734 SIPDIS SENSITIVE FOR NEA; ALSO FOR R PLEASE PASS TO BBG E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PROP KPAO EG BBG SUBJECT: CONTINUING TO PURSUE RADIO SAWA TRANSMISSION IN EGYPT REF: A. CAIRO 668 ¶B. 04 CAIRO 7239 ¶C. 04 CAIRO 5451 ¶D. 04 CAIRO 2789 ¶E. 04 CAIRO 1627 ¶F. 03 CAIRO 2588 Sensitive but unclassified. Please protect accordingly. ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Continuing to seek permission for Radio Sawa to retransmit its signal in Egypt, the Charge sent a letter on March 31 to newly appointed Minister of Information Anas El Fekki reiterating the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors's (BBG's) long-standing request for facilities to retransmit its signal in Egypt. The Charge repeated post's willingness to meet with the GOE at any time to discuss the matter in more detail. Refs A through F describe post's earlier efforts on this subject. End summary. ¶2. (SBU) The BBG sent then Minister of Information Safwat El Sherif a letter on May 26, 2004, requesting to install an FM transmission tower for Radio Sawa in Cairo's Media City. Ambassador Welch presented this letter to the Minister in person on June 2, 2004. Minister Sherif was replaced shortly thereafter, and the Charge sent a follow- up letter to his replacement, Minister Mamdouh El Baltagui, on July 18. In a courtesy call on September 26, 2004, Ambassador Welch also broached the Radio Sawa issue with Minister Beltagui (ref B). During a January 27, 2005, luncheon meeting, Ambassador Welch again raised the issue, but Minister Beltagui was still non-committal (ref A). Minister Beltagui was replaced on February 15, 2005, by Anas El Fekki. ¶3. (SBU) Charge Gray sent a follow-up letter to Minister El Fekki on March 31, 2005, referencing previous correspondence. To date, post has not received any reply to our repeated inquires on the subject from the Ministry of Information. Post will continue to press the GOE and work with BBG on next steps on this issue. GRAY