SUDAN - USCG ASSESSMENT TEAM VISIT

C O N F I D E N T I A L KHARTOUM 001415 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR AF/SPG, NSC FOR CHUDSON E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/18/2018 TAGS: EWWT KPKO PGOV PTER KHLS ECON SU SUBJECT: SUDAN - USCG ASSESSMENT TEAM VISIT REF: STATE 97324 Classified By: CDA Alberto M. Fernandez, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) CDA Fernandez delivered talking points and dipnote with text of letter from Coast Guard RADM Salerno (reftel) to Ministry of Foreign Affairs Under-Secretary Mutriff Siddiq on September 15. The letter was addressed to Foreign Minister Alor. U/S Siddiq acknowledged the sensitivity of allowing such a visit to Port Sudan and nearby ports given the current unsettled state of US-Sudanese relations but was cautiously optimistic about the possibility for cooperation on port security. He noted that the Foreign Ministry, while the natural recipient of this message, would not be the ultimate decision-maker for such a visit. He strongly urged that NISS Director General Salah Ghosh, "who can make this happen" be approached as soon as possible. ¶2. (C) Accompanied by RAO and POL, CDA visited with DG Ghosh on September 17 and delivered an additional copy of the Salerno letter to the Sudanese Intelligence chief. Ghosh had already been informed by Siddiq of the general outlines of the demarche. He said that he believed that such a possible visit was a positive development and he wanted to see it happen. He did caution that with many in Sudan expecting some sort of UNSC action in October in relation to a possible ICC indictment of President Bashir "that is a cloud over everything we try to do." Still, this is something the Sudanese would be interested in seeing happen, the latter half of October dates were "in principle" acceptable and he would coordinate through RAO channels, the definitive response from the Sudanese in the coming days. ¶3. (C) Comment: This is not exactly a green light by the Sudanese but they are certainly very interested and we can expect a definitive answer in the coming days. End comment. FERNANDEZ