SUDAN: OFAC WAIVER NEEDED IN SUPPORT OF SAWA START-

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 001193

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 - CORRECTION (DELETION OF EXCESS TEXT)

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 in 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, for 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