VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKH #0433/01 0880518
ZNR UUUUU ZZH (CCY AD492A24 MSI1405-695)
R 290518Z MAR 09 ZDS
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 3385

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 000433 
 
C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y (GARBLED TEXT) 
 
DEPT FOR AF/SPG, AF/E, AF/PDPA, ECA/PE/V/R/N 
PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KPAO SCUL SOCI OEXC KMDR KPKO ASEC SU
SUBJECT: ESTABLISHMENT OF SUDANESE-AMERICAN ALUMNI ASSOCIATION IN 
KHARTOUM 
 
¶1. SUMMARY: For a number of years, Sudanese alumni of USG grant 
programs tried, but never quite succeeded, in forming an alumni 
association.  This has now changed. In late February, the 
semi-governmental Council for International People's Friendship 
approved the 27-member Sudanese American Alumni Association steering 
committee's draft charter.  Less than a month later, the alumni 
association's executive board has infused new impetus into the 
Sudanese American Friendship Association (SAFA) by insisting on 
identifying "areas of cooperation" between the two entities. END 
SUMMARY 
 
¶2. A principal goal of the new alumni association, as articulated by 
the Association's Secretary General, "Al-Sudani" daily columnist 
Sulaiman Alamin Abbas Ali, is "changing the stereotypes about 
America in Sudan and those of Sudan prevalent in America."  From the 
outset, the Alumni Association has had to battle efforts by the 
Council for International People's Friendship not to become absorbed 
by the heavily business-centered Sudanese American Friendship 
Association.  At the earliest stage of negotiations, the Council 
informed the Public Affairs Officer (PAO) that coming under the 
Friendship Association's aegis would be a precondition for the 
Alumni Association to have recognition by the Council.  An 
additional stipulation was that the Alumni Association include as 
members graduates of any U.S. university, whatever the funding 
source.  These preconditions were likely due to the existing 
association's inability to draw outside participation for its 
activities.  The PAO and alumni alike went to great lengths to 
explain the uniqueness of the USG grantee alumni community and how 
certain benefits, such as grant opportunities, were only available 
to those who were part of the State Department  global alumni 
network.  The Council finally agreed to these caveats in admitting 
the Alumni Association fell under its umbrella. 
 
¶3. When members of the Sudanese American Friendship Association saw 
positive media coverage of the Association's founding, its 
Friendship group's executive board contacted their alumni 
counterparts to seek a stake in the renewed momentum, if not a claim 
to the territory of bilateral friendship.  Alumni Association 
president, Ahfad University for Women Professor Dr. Abdelmoniem 
Badri, artfully avoided the potential turf war by telling the press: 
 "We need the United States and the United States needs us."  He 
traced the exchange process back to Sudan's pre-independence period, 
and called the ties with the U.S. "no less than the table tennis 
tournaments that brought the U.S. and China together.  As an 
educator, bringing back English-language programs is a top priority 
and should be one of the roles of the Alumni Association." 
 
¶4. Professor Ahmed El-Amin Al-Bashir, Chairman of the American and 
European Department of the Council for International People's 
Friendship, qualified his relationship with the United States as 
"wide" and "deep": "First, in 1967 I was appointed as Third 
*Secretary* to the Embassy of Sudan in the United States.  The second 
aspect of my relationship with the U.S. is that my wife is American, 
 and my son works for The Washington Post ..."  He  referred to the 
"large number of Sudanese living in the U.S. -- more than quarter of 
a million -- so we are working on very solid ground." 
 
¶5. On March 18 the SAFA Board invited CDA Fernandez to a dinner at 
SAFA Chair's Amin al-Nefeidi's palatial estate to explain the latest 
on U.S. foreign policy in Sudan. On March 24 the Friendship 
Association Chairman and selected executive members invited the PAO 
(as "facilitator of the dialogue,") and four members of the Alumni 
Association executive committee to discuss how they might explore 
"overlapping objectives."   According to the Alumni Association 
charter, areas in which common goals meet include "development and 
consolidation of friendly relations, cooperation, and ... 
understanding between Sudanese and Americans," contributing to 
"cooperation and exchanges in all fields," and seeking a meeting 
point between Sudanese and American peoples "in terms of their 
cultures, arts and contribution to civilization and human 
heritage." 
 
COMMENT: The formation of the Sudanese American Alumni Association 
during a period of mounting anti-U.S. rhetoric in the lead-up to the 
International Criminal Court's March 4 issuance of an arrest warrant 
against Sudanese President Bashir is both a significant and 
encouraging sign.   Positive media coverage of the Association's 
formation also indicates receptivity to strengthening bilateral 
educational ties during a time of heightened political tension 
following the ICC warrant and the expulsion by the Government of 
Sudan of 13 international NGOs doing vital humanitarian work in 
Darfur.  With the support of the Public Affairs Section (PAS), the 
Association is seeking to locate the appx. 600-700 alumni who have 
been on USG exchange programs from Sudan.   The Mission will 
collaborate with the alumni organization in co-sponsoring seminars, 
lectures, commemorative events, cultural/ artistic and other 
activities. 
KHARTOUM 
 
FERNANDEZ