VZCZCXYZ0012
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKH #1193 1420549
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 220549Z MAY 06 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2888
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEATRS/DEPARTMENT OF TREASURY WASHDC IMMEDIATE

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