MFA ON DELAYED NEC CONTAINERS

C O N F I D E N T I A L KHARTOUM 002893 SIPDIS SIPDIS FOR OBO - GENERAL WILLIAMS FROM CHARGE HUME E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/21/2016 TAGS: PREL OFDP ABLD AMGT ASEC US SU SUBJECT: MFA ON DELAYED NEC CONTAINERS REF: KHARTOUM 02794 Classified By: P/E Chief E. Whitaker, Reason: Section 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) During a December 21 meeting with State Minister for Foreign Affairs Ahmed Ali Karti, Charge Hume raised Sudan's non-compliance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations with respect to containers still detained at Port Sudan. Noting the containers had so far been held for approximately 75 days, he said that Washington would soon draw conclusions as to the viability of the New Embassy Compound (NEC) project. A series of letters and appointments simply had not advanced the issue; the Sudanese Government had for two years supported the project as evidence of the significance of the bilateral relationship. He asked whether the Sudanese government's view had changed, as reflected by the current lack of cooperation. ¶2. (C) Karti claimed (wrongly) that he had only learned of the issue five days earlier. He said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had written to the Ministry of Finance to try to unblock the containers; the Minister of Finance, he said, had been at the National Assembly in budget hearings for the past week, and had not had time to respond. In any event, he added, the MFA could provide an update on the issue within two to three days. ¶3. (C) Charge Hume said there was a clock attached to the NEC project; the Sudanese government had assured it wished to see the project go forward and thus there should be no further delays. Like Darfur, he added, the USG needs to see things happen, not merely paper moving around. HUME