BBG DELEGATION AND MOROCCAN HIGH AUTHORITY FOR

UNCLAS RABAT 002157 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/PPD, R, IIP, PA, NEA/MAG, BBG E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KPAO PREL SCUL OIIP KIRC PHUM KMPI MO SUBJECT: BBG DELEGATION AND MOROCCAN HIGH AUTHORITY FOR BROADCAST MEDIA AGREE TO REGULARIZE RADIO SAWA STATUS VIA SHELL COMPANY AND DOCUMENTS BY OCTOBER 31, 2005 REF: A.Rabat 1498; B.Rabat 1893 ¶1. SUMMARY In two October 4, 2005 meetings mission, BBG and GOM representatives reviewed the history of Radio Sawa broadcasting in Morocco and agreed on a solution to the licensing impasse. The GOM granted Radio Sawa seven frequencies on an exceptional basis in 2003 before the current radio licensing procedure had been established. Radio Sawa is the only radio station to miss the six month grace period August 2 deadline to regularize its license. The agreement reached in the meetings to create on a shell company (a legal shell, "une coquille juridique") that will take into account the fact that Sawa is not a commercial entity, yet satisfy the GOM legal requirements, and the agreement to complete paperwork by October 31 represents a substantial step toward regularizing Radio Sawa's broadcasting license in Morocco. ¶2. The Ambassador and a BBG delegation composed of John Bowen, Senior Advisor to the Director of BBG Engineering; David Strawman, BBG Tangier Morocco Director; Darrel Duckworth, Morocco Critical Broadcast Systems Support office; and Larbi Khassouni, BBG Tangier staff held two meetings to discuss Radio Sawa licensing in Rabat on 4 October 2005: one with the Moroccan Minister of Communication Nabil Benabdallah and one with President Ahmad Ghazali of the Broadcast Media Council and its regulatory arm the High Authority for Broadcast Media (Haute Autorite de la Communication Audiovisuelle hereafter "HACA"). The Counselor for Public Affairs was note taker. ¶3. In a brief meeting, Minister of Communicatin Nabil Benabdallah recapped his role in the creation of Radio Sawa and confirmed that this is now a HACA issue. Mr. Bowen and Mr. Strawman thanked the Minister for past and continuing cooperation. (Note: BBG recently granted the Ministry/RTM eight radio transmitters.) Minister Benabdallah noted that, at the King's behest, he had moved to authorize the initial seven Radio Sawa frequencies in 2003. "At that time there was only a text of the Audio-Visual Law (which established HACA). We knew that we could have problems because other stations like BBC, Radio Monte Carlo, and RFI had also applied to the Ministry of Communication. And, yes, there were problems because the other stations asked us: Why Radio Sawa and not us? It was difficult to respond to these questions." ¶4. The Minister continued that now in 2005 there is a new law which privatized the broadcast media sector, created HACA, and spelled out the procedure for radio broadcast license applications. All existing radio stations in Morocco were given six months to comply, except for the government-owned RTM which had been given a year. All have complied except Sawa, whose six month deadline expired on 2 August 2005. (Note: BBG sent several communications to HACA in a response to the new law, but all - including a diplomatic note to the MFA which was never forwarded to HACA - requested a special status based on the BBG/VOA bilateral relation. There is no provision in the new law for such a special bilateral status. The new law requires that radio stations be constituted so as to be a company.) ¶5. The Minister of Communication said he was glad the U.S. team would be seeing HACA where this issue could be worked out amicably. "We will not impose on you program content; we just need to know (in the application) percentages of content type and language. If you want ten hours of news, you can have it; if you want only two hours you can can have it." It is important that the Sawa arrangement follow faithfully the new legislation. ¶6. After eloquent mutual thank you's for cooperation, the Minister asked if Radio Sawa was the same group as Hurra TV (Mr. Bowen - yes) and if there was a chance that Al-Hurra would be broadcast from Morocco (Mr. Bowen - it is technically but not programmatically possible). ¶7. Mr. Ahmed Ghazali, President of HACA started his meeting with a survey of the history of Radio Sawa in Morocco, stressing that the unresolved regularization had made HACA very uncomfortable. (Note: the day of the meeting a new article, one of several accusing HACA of making special exceptions for Sawa, appeared in "Le Journal.") ¶8. The president of HACA noted the series of discussions about putting Radio Sawa in conformity with the law and the lapse of the six month grace period on August 2, 2005. In the meantime, the three other private radios in the same situation had "normalized" their status. (Note: these three are Medi-1 a 51% Moroccan 49% French company in Tangier; Ain Chouck radio in Casablanca, and the Second Channel (2M) Radio in Casablanca.) The government-owned RTM radio had just finished its regularization under the new law the previous day. ¶9. Mr. Ghazali continued: "We want to find the best solution for Radio Sawa. HACA will help provide ways to `conform in principle' to the new legislation. Ambassador Riley thanked the president and said that BBG told him (the Ambassador) last week in Washington that they were ready to take prompt action to resolve the Sawa license issue. Mr. Bowen said he was in Rabat to try to implement the new broadcast media regulation. "We appreciate the patience of HACA, and we want to listen to learn how to resolve the issue." ¶10. Mr. Ghazali continued his review of history. On 31 August 2002 Morocco created HACA to privatize broadcast media. In September 2002, a royal decree ended state monopoly of broadcast media. Before that date only the government could own radio and television and there were only three exceptions (noted above) and these three exceptions have created new private entities. ¶11. In the meantime, as HACA was being formed, on 15 August 2003, the Minister of Communication granted an exceptional authorization for seven frequencies for Radio Sawa. Law 77.03 of 2 February 2005 ended the government monopoly of broadcast media, liberalized and privatized the sector, ended the old system of controlling programs initially, changed to a principle of controlling programs afterwards (a posteriori),and established principles governing broadcast. These included freedom of communication, respect of human dignity, reflection of a pluralistic society, and organization of publicity and ads. ¶12. Mr. Ghazali stressed: "HACA is constrained by the law and by public opinion. Our credibility must be established so that we can function. Regarding Radio Sawa, we are aware of its peculiarity. We know the entire dossier and from October 2004 to October 2005 we have reviewed the dossier twelve times in twelve different meetings." HACA is accountable to be sure the law is applied. There is also the matter of conformity. HACA received a dossier from Radio Sawa which did not conform to the requirement that Radio Sawa be a company incorporated under Moroccan law (societe anonyme). ¶13. Mr. Ghazali continued: "From the second of August until now it has been uncomfortable for Radio Sawa and for the Moroccan government. We have been patient about the situation but it is not in your or our interest to let this continue. It has been very uncomfortable for HACA." ¶14. At this point there was a discussion to clarify the procedures HACA expects. First Sawa must form a private company which has a name, a headquarters and shareholders; these can be foreign shareholders. It is easy to establish a company, said Mr. Ghazali. It can be done in 48 hours. Second, Sawa must fill out a dossier of papers which describe the nature of the company, employees, program, etc. Third, the newly formed company, "for example SAWA. S.A." must request a license. HACA and Sawa will then negotiate a contract or "cahier de charges." Once this is negotiated HACA can grant a license. ¶15. The president of HACA recognized Moroccan laws did not foresee the situation of Radio Sawa and that "Radio Sawa is a different reality." HACA is willing to do everything it can to facilitate paperwork for a Radio Sawa license in conformity with the law. ¶16. Mr. Bowen responded: "What you have laid out is very helpful. I have been empowered by the BBG to work towards a resolution of this issue and to establish a shell corporation." ¶17. Mr. Ghazali replied: "If you do the application, the role of HACA established by law and the obligations of Sawa in Morocco can be codified in a way that is acceptable. We know that Radio Sawa programs are formulated for regions of the Middle East as well as Morocco. When we consider its application we will ignore that particularity. ¶18. HACA board member Prof. Salah-Eddine el Ouadie asked to speak and reiterated how important it is that the Sawa issue be resolved "in conformity with Moroccan law." "HACA plays an important institutional role in Morocco. Conformity of Sawa with Moroccan law is not only of juridical value. It is also of value to the general audiovisual environment." ¶19. President Ghazali said that it was necessary to have a deadline, not as short as 48 hours but also not as long three months. He suggested the end of October. Mr. Bowen said that the deadline of the end of October is reasonable, that he accepts HACA's offer of assistance with the paperwork, and that his representative will be Mr. Strawman, BBG Tangier Director. Mr. Ghazali appointed Prof. El-Hassan Bouquentar as the point of contact from the HACA side, and suggested that the first week of November would be a good time for a ceremony. The Ambassador thanked HACA for its cooperation. ¶20. COMMENT Clearly, Mr. Ghazali was under orders to achieve this "regularization" as quickly as possible. The GOM does not want any more bad press over the Radio Sawa anomaly. The Minister of Communication told us that he had informally "advised" HACA to help us but that HACA was an independent entity with whom he had no formal communication. It is clear that Radio Sawa can not be licensed via the BBG bilateral agreements with the GOM. Formation of a company with a "legal shell" ("une coquille juridique") is the next critical step. We should hold to the October 31 deadline for regularizing Sawa. BBG Tangiers has contacted a lawyer to implement the shell company. Once that is done they will meet with Prof El-Hassan Bouquentar (a former PAS International Visitor) to finish the paperwork for a license. Mr. Ghazali told us that HACA is already working on a draft of the "cahier de charges" which is the last step before licensing. RILEY