SUDAN: OFAC WAIVER NEEDED IN SUPPORT OF SAWA START-

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 001155 SIPDIS DEPT FOR D, PD, AF/SPG, AF/PD, AND EB/ESC DEPT PLS PASS BBG USDOC FOR BIS TREASURY FOR OFAC SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETTC BEXP PREL KPAO OIIP PGOV US SU SUBJECT: SUDAN: OFAC WAIVER NEEDED IN SUPPORT OF SAWA START- UP REF: A) Hume - Snyder e-mail of 14 Dec 05, B) Moseley - Hird e-mail of 19 Feb 06, C) Moseley - Hird e-mail of 12 March 06 ¶1. (U) This is an action request - see para 7. ¶2. (SBU) SUMMARY: After long negotiations, an agreement for the establishment of Radio SAWA in Sudan is nearing the point of signature. At this juncture, Post has learned that the Department of Treasury's Office Foreign Assets Control (OFAC),while approving a license for overall SAWA operations in Sudan, has refused a waiver request to allow purchase of U.S. spare parts and equipment needed by the host institution, the Sudan Radio and Television Corporation (SRTC). Post continues to feel that these imports - representing an important goodwill gesture on our part - may be essential for the SAWA deal to go through. Radio SAWA offers an important opportunity to assist in disseminating information in Darfur in support of the recently signed Darfur Peace Agreement. Post requests the Department to reconsider its apparently negative recommendation to OFAC concerning a license for these spares. END SUMMARY. ¶3. (SBU) On August 10, 2005, the Embassy Khartoum CDA Limbert, along with Amin Hassan Omer of the Sudan Radio and Television Corporation (SRTC),initialed a Letter of Intent to establish Radio SAWA in Sudan. The plan was to establish FM transmitting stations at Khartoum and up to 11 other eventual sites, all to be constructed, operated, and maintained for SAWA by the SRTC. ¶4. (SBU) Darrell Duckworth, representing the USG's Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG),was charged with negotiating the Radio Sawa agreement. The SRTC was cooperative, but at the same time approached Duckworth to help them on another matter: obtaining badly needed transmitter spare parts from the Harris Corporation in the U.S., manufacturer of some of the SRTC's main transmitters. While no explicit quid pro quo was mentioned, it was Duckworth's strong impression that a license for importation of the spare parts would ensure that the SAWA deal went through. ¶5. (SBU) The SAWA license request (Case # SU-1686, License # SU-1207) thus included two parts: a request for rights to supply $200,000 worth of U.S.-made spare parts, and another for approval of SAWA operations in Sudan. The SAWA initiative was approved, the spare parts were not, for reasons unknown. Without the spare parts, however, the SRTC may be less inclined to sign. ¶6. (SBU) CDA Hume has expressed his support for waivers permitting the U.S. sourcing of any SAWA-related new equipment as well as of any spare parts needed by the SRTC (Ref A). In response to questions about the SRTC, Post's PAO wrote that its broadcasting was "reasonable and fairly balanced" and "scrupulously careful not to air material offensive to the U.S." (Ref B). Post believes that OFAC should reconsider the matter, and lend its support to the waiver request for the purchase of spare parts. The win-win result would support the more constructive relationship that has developed since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005 - and the Darfur Peace Agreement of May 5, ¶2006. Embassy Khartoum believes that the importance of ensuring the viability of Radio SAWA outweighs any possible downside of permitting the spare parts. Radio may be used extensively in Darfur, or instance, to propagate information about the Darfur Peace Agreement. Gaining broad public understanding and support for the Agreement is of paramount importance in ending the atrocities in Darfur, a Presidential priority. ¶7. (SBU) Action requested: Embassy Khartoum requests that the State Department request Treasury OFAC to reconsider its waiver decision and to allow the export of radio transmitter spare parts for the SRTC in Sudan. HUME "Letter of intent" 10 aug 05 Jennifer, please excuse the delay in reply. I have also confirmed that the equipment being asked for now is only ($200,000 worth of) spare parts for existing equipment owned by Radio Omdurman. It would be a "sweetener" to encourage progress on the SAWA deal. OFAC exemption for the new SAWA equipment would then be asked for separately. In Darrell Duckworth's view: "If we do not get the authorization for the spare parts then we will have more problems with the .. . to get the new equipment. It appears that the only fly is in the State response. If State gives a positive supportive response to the spare parts we will proceed with the agreement and the new equipment requests." My own view is that these sanctions affecting general infrastructure are generally not constructive, and that any chance for exception should be taken. Moreover, I would like to make a special recommendation of Omdurman TV and Radio. I periodically watch the TV (which has similar news to the radio),and have talked to my staff about the radio. It is our collective impression that these are reasonable and fairly balanced broadcasting media, and that -- compared with what one hears about the media in some parts of the Arab world -- are quite scrupulously careful NOT to air material that would be offensive to the U.S. Many improvements could be made, especially in giving more airtime to non-Arab material relating to other parts of the country, and dissenting points of view from within the country. As far as U.S. interests are concerned, however, I think the overall moderation of these stations deserves to be rewarded. Best, Kay Moseley Public Affairs Khartoum -------------- Original Message -------------- From: Hird, Jennifer L(AF/SPG) Sent: Friday, February 17, 2006 12:32 AM To: Moseley, Katharine P Cc: Whitaker, Eric P Subject: RE: Board of Broadcast Governors question Kay, Please see the application attached. From my read, it does not include equipment only spare parts. If we need to, I can go back to BBG and request exactly what parts they would like to provide. Jennifer > _____________________________________________ From: Moseley, Katharine P(Khartoum) Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2006 5:11 AM To: Hird, Jennifer L(AF/SPG) Cc: Whitaker, Eric P Subject: RE: Board of Broadcast Governors question Jennifer, a quick clarification if possible: Does the first part of the BBG-SAWA application, that you refer to below, also include EQUIPMENT? Thanks, k. -------------- Original Message -------------- From: Hird, Jennifer L(AF/SPG) Sent: Tuesday, February 14, 2006 9:32 PM To: Whitaker, Eric P; Moseley, Katharine P Cc: Klein, John Marshall Subject: Board of Broadcast Governors question Eric and Kay, We received an OFAC license application from the Board of Broadcast Governors. Ambassador Hume asked me about it in December/January. We received their answers below; however, I wanted to reach out to the Embassy as well. There are two parts to the application - one is to take part in a 10 year agreement with the Sudanese government for the establishment of up to 12 FM radio stations. This part seems fine. Additionally, however, BBG also requests authorization to provide spare parts to repair one of the Sudan government's medium wave AM radio transmitters. We reached out to BBG regarding this transmitter and received the response below. It seems the Sudanese government, specifically the Radio and TV Network Corp, will be using this radio transmitter, not BBG. Do you think we should support this? What kind of information flows through the Network Corp? We could approve just one part of the application and not the spare parts. Please let me know your view. Thanks, Jennifer _____________________________________________ _ From: Klein, John Marshall(EB/ESC/TFS) Sent: Monday, February 13, 2006 11:41 AM To: Hird, Jennifer L(AF/SPG) Subject: Re BBG questions Hi Jennifer, The BBG folk just got back in touch with me. Unfortunately, they were not able to provide complete answers. On Question 1: Will the BBG be using the medium wave AM radio? - The answer is no. It helps the BBG only indirectly by facilitating their broader deal with the GOS to permit Radio Sawa operations. Question 2: Will this transmitter be used by and for the GOS? Yes. It will be used by the Radio and TV Network Corp. of Sudan, a Govt-affiliated network. Range of the transmitter is unclear. Potentially, as a medium-range AM transmitter, it could reach the whole country. The BBG may be able to find out a bit more about the range issue. In re potential programming content and prior GOS use (or abuse) of radio, BBG has no idea. They suggest asking the embassy. This makes sense to me, and I think is something we probably need to know before making a recommendation. Would the public diplomacy section there have this info? John-Marshall Klein, Ph.D. EB/ESC/TFS (202) 647-9452 Kay good to hear from you. The Spare parts are for exisitng SRTC equipment in the amount of +$200K. We will ask for the Additional radio Sawa equipment after we get an agreement with the SRTC We give them m oney and they from wherever they can. I don't like it either but that is the requirement from State. The costs are going to be high. DD Subject: FW: Sudan agreement Date: Fri, 12 May 2006 18:14:06 +0300 From: MoseleyKP@state.gov To: dduckworth6@hotmail.com This is really hard to believe. so how/where will the necessary NEW equipment come from? We just give money and they buy from the Chinese? We rent facilities?? From: Darrel Duckworth [mailto:dduckworth6@hotmail.com] Sent: Friday, May 12, 2006 5:03 PM To: Moseley, Katharine P Subject: RE: Sudan agreement Kay, It does not include th new equipment either. We were a litle dissapointed in the lack of support from State. If State had given a positive response we would not have a problem. Maybe you and hte Ambassador can get State o change its position. We understand that Sudan is going to permit UN assistance in darfur and troops as well. This could be what is needed to turn it around. See you in June. DD Subject: RE: Sudan agreement Date: Fri, 12 May 2006 16:23:22 +0300 From: MoseleyKP@state.gov To: dduckworth6@hotmail.com Sorry to hear this! Does the license at least cover the NEW equipment that Sawa would bring in? By the way, was down in Juba some time ago, and they too have these old Harris Corp transmitters (or some-such major equipment) that need spare parts. From: Darrel Duckworth [mailto:dduckworth6@hotmail.com] Sent: Friday, May 12, 2006 3:54 PM To: Moseley, Katharine P Subject: Sudan agreement Kay, -------------- Original Message -------------- From: Hume, Cameron (Khartoum) Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2005 12:06 PM To: Snyder, Charles R(AF/SPG); Sams, Duane E(AF/SPG) Cc: Moseley, Katharine P; Steinfeld, Andrew W(Khartoum) Subject: BBG Waiver Gentlemen, I will fax to SPG today correspondence relating to a BBG request to OFAC to renew license SU-1207. You may already have a copy of this. Some of the prose is obscure to me, but it seems there are two issues: 1) permission to export from Harris Corp in Quincy, Illinois, $600k of FM broadcasting equipment for Radio Sawa; 2) permission to export $2million of spares from Harris for the Sudan Radio Corporation, a transaction that would facilitate BBG operations here to some extent. #1 is a no brainer, it would appear; #2 could well be in our interest. Could you coordinate in Washington on this, as all of the action agencies are there? BBG should be able to provide quickly any additional information. Of course, we will in Khartoum do whatever we can to move it forward. Thanks for your help. Cameron -------------- Original Message -------------- From: Hume, Cameron (Khartoum) Sent: Monday, December 12, 2005 12:37 PM To: Ranneberger, Michael E(AF Front Office); Snyder, Charles R(AF/SPG) Cc: Padilla, Chris; Steinfeld, Andrew W(Khartoum); Whitaker, Eric P Subject: USG FM Radio in Sudan! The Board of Broadcast Governors is in the last stages of concluding an agreement (expected to be signed here in January) to set up about 10 FM broadcasting stations throughout Sudan. These stations will broadcast Radio Sawa, using a special "Sudan Stream" of programming. This agreement will be a major step forward for USG public diplomacy in Sudan, and it should have positive spin-off effects on the domestic political evolution here. Normally, BBG would use equipment from the Harris Corporation in Illinois, but OFAC has already determined that USG sanctions prohibit this export (even though the end user is the U.S. government!). Isn't this crazy? Why should the USG sanction its own programs? Wouldn't even Senator Obama understand a waiver for this export? I have asked for more precise information on this issue; I am inclined to ask that a waiver be considered to permit this export. Sudan's own radio corporation has also used Harris equipment and now is in need of replacement parts. A request relevant to that might also make sense, but I understand that would be a subsequent issue. Let me know if you have any advice on how best to raise this. Thanks. Cameron We have received the OFAC license. Unfortunately, it does not permit the procurement of the MW spare parts as the Comittee had told IBB earlier in the week. It does permit us to broadcast in Sudan. This is an unfortunate turn of events. The state department input was " not consistent with current U.S. Policy. ". I am still planning a trip to Khartoum wih hat in hand to try to get a signing of the agreement. We may need to increase the quid to get signing. If we can not get an agreement signed soon we will lose the money. I will be in Washington May 21-26 to get my visa. I will keep in touch. I have just learned today of the favorable decision on the spare parts. We will be forwarding the License to the USEmbassy Khartoum as soon as I receive it. We have committed $100,000 FOR THE SPARE PARTS. I will ask Kay Mosely to request a signing date for the agreement from Mr. Omer. Please advise your Ministry of Foreign affairs , that I will be in Washington the The spare parts issue is be held by State department. If the State department Sudan desk would give the approval then the ofac license will be issued and the spare parts purchase can be made. To date (since December) the Sudan desk in State Deparment hass not given their approval. I ahve exchanged emails with Kay and she and the COM have requested State to give their input. State has yet provided and are dragging their feet fearing SRTC will use the spare parts to bring a transmitter into service that will broadcasst programs detrimental to US interests. Our feeling is that not having Radio Sawa in place is a greater detriment to US Interests than any broadcastss by the SRTC. it seems to be a catch 22. We can not get Radio Sawa into Sudan to provide alternative news unless State gives their approval for the spare parts. We (IBB) are hopeful state will see the error in their logic. The spare parts is a quid for the SRTC >if we can get the authorization. I fwe do not get the authorization >for the spare parts then we will ahve more problems with the to get the >new equipment. It appears that the only fly is in the State response. >If State gives a positive supportive response to the spare parts we >will proceed with the agreement and the new equipment requests. To: Assistant Director for From: Mr. Jan S. McNutt Licensing Assistant General ATTN: Jan Brown Counsel Fax: (202) 622-0447 Pages: 1 (including cover) Phone Date: January 3, 2006 : Subje Case # SU-1686 Tel: 202-203-4550 ct License # SU-1207 Fax: 202-203-4585 Dear Ms. Brown: Further to my facsimile dated December 28, 2005, in response to your request for information concerning the spare parts we addressed in our letter dated November 8, 2005. The Harris Corporation informed use today that all the parts we are considering for export to Sudan are classified EAR99. This includes both Harris made and vendor parts. Previously, Harris was not sure of the vendor parts, but confirmed to us today that these are also EAR99. All the parts are used in and are part of the model DX-600 600kW Medium Wave transmitter, which Harris Corporation designs and manufactures. We hope this information is useful to you. Please contact us if you require additional information. Regards, Jan S. McNutt Assistant General Counsel