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