VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKH #1035 1921247
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 101247Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 1298

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 001035 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/SPG AND EEB/ESC/ESP(JOHN MARSHALL KLEIN) 
DEPT PLS PASS TREASURY FOR OFAC 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EFIN PREL SU
SUBJECT: BANK OF KHARTOUM REQUESTS GUIDANCE ON DELISTING AS SDN 
 
¶1.  (U) This is an action request - see para. 5. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) On July 10, Embassy was approached by Fadi Salim al Faqih, 
General Manager of the commercial Bank of Khartoum, on what actions 
the Bank might take and what procedures it should follow to be 
removed from the list of Specially Designated Nationals (SDN).  Al 
Faqih said that he has made repeated attempts to contact OFAC for 
guidance via email, but has received no response. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) According to al Faqih, 90% of the Bank of Khartoum's 
equity is now in private hands, approximately 85% held by foreign 
nationals, mostly from the UAE.  The remaining 10% of the Bank's 
stock still is held by the Central Bank of Sudan.  Al Faqih said the 
Central Bank has expressed its willingness to divest itself of the 
remaining stock, which would make the Bank of Khartoum 100% 
privately owned.  He did not have an estimate off hand as to when 
such a divestiture might be completed. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Al Fadiq added that Bank of Khartoum provides the 
financial services used by UNAMID in Darfur, including the payment 
of salaries and wages, in cooperation with Citibank in New York.  He 
also indicated that the UN does the bulk of its financial 
transactions world-wide through a branch of the Bank of Khartoum at 
the UN in New York. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Action request:  Post requests guidance on what to inform 
the Bank of Khartoum on how to proceed with a request to be delisted 
as an SDN and what criteria, if any, it might have to meet to do 
so. 
 
FERNANDEZ