US embassy cable - 94KHARTOUM4688

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 04688 
 
 
E.O. 12356: DECL:OADR 
TAGS: PTER, SU, IR 
SUBJECT: UNUSUAL IRANIAN PRESENCE IN NORTHERN SUDAN? 
 
1. SECRET ENTIRE TEXT. 
 
2. SUMMARY. ACCORDING TO A NORMALLY RELIABLE CONTACT 
WHO RECENTLY VISITED RELATIVES IN THE AREA, THE 
IRANIAN AGRICULTURAL PROJECT LOCATED NEAR EL GEITI 
NORTH OF KHARTOUM IS BASICALLY INACTIVE.  THE 
IRANIANS REPORTEDLY MAINTAIN, HOWEVER, A SECOND, 
LARGE FACILITY A FEW KILOMETERS FROM THIS 
AGRICULTURAL PROJECT.  THE AREA IS OFF LIMITS TO 
LOCAL TOWNSPEOPLE, AND MOST MOVEMENT TO AND FROM THE 
FACILITY OCCURS AT NIGHT.  THE LOCAL POPULATION DOES 
NOT KNOW WHAT PURPOSE THIS SECOND IRANIAN FACILITY 
SERVES. END SUMMARY. 
 
3. THE IRANIAN GOVERNMENT RUNS AN AGRICULTURAL 
PROJECT LOCATED APPROXIMATELY 55 KILOMETERS NORTH OF 
KHARTOUM, AND SOME FIVE KILOMETERS NORTH OF THE TOWN 
OF EL GEITI, ON THE PAVED ROAD LEADING FROM KHARTOUM 
TO SHENDI.  THE PROJECT COMPOUND ABUTS THE LEFT 
(WEST) SIDE OF THE ROAD WHEN ONE IS TRAVELING FROM EL 
GEITI TO SHENDI.  THE FENCED COMPOUND CONSISTS OF A 
FEW SINGLE-STORY OFFICE AND/OR STORAGE BUILDINGS AND 
ONE OR TWO LARGE STORAGE HANGARS, UNDER WHICH ARE 
PARKED HALF A DOZEN LARGE PIECES OF AGRICULTURAL 
MACHINERY, WHICH FROM A DISTANCE APPEAR TO BE 
HARVESTERS.  THE OSTENSIBLE PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT IS 
TO ASSIST AREA FARMERS. 
 
4. NEAR THE COMPOUND ARE TWO SMALL VILLAGES, WAD 
RAMLI AND WAD WISI (PHONETIC).  ACCORDING TO A GOOD 
EMBASSY CONTACT WHO WAS BORN AND RAISED IN THE AREA 
AND WHO RECENTLY VISITED RELATIVES THERE, THE IRANIAN 
PROJECT IS BASICALLY INACTIVE AND PROVIDES NEXT TO NO 
ASSISTANCE TO LOCAL FARMERS.  ON OCCASION IRANIAN 
PROJECT STAFF RENT THEIR VEHICLES TO LOCAL FARMERS TO 
TRANSPORT FARM PRODUCE, BUT AT THE GOING COMMERICAL 
RATE. 
 
5. ACCORDING TO THE LOCAL TOWNSPEOPLE, THE LARGER 
MACHINERY RARELY, IF EVER, MOVES.  THE WHOLE AREA IS 
BASICALLY SEMI-DESERT OR DESERT, WITH, HOWEVER, A 
THIN BAND OF FERTILE AND WELL-WATERED FIELDS ALONG 
THE BANKS OF THE NILE, WHICH FLOWS IN A SOUTH-NORTH 
DIRECTION PARALLEL TO THE ROAD, FIVE TO TEN 
KILOMETERS WEST OF THE PAVEMENT. 
 
6. OUR SOURCE REPORTS THAT THERE IS A SECOND IRANIAN 
COMPOUND, FACING THE AGRICULTURAL PROJECT, BUT 
LOCATED APPROXIMATELY 3 KILOMETERS EAST OF IT, ON THE 
OTHER SIDE OF THE KHARTOUM/SHENDI ROAD AND THE NEARBY 
RAILROAD LINE.  UNLIKE THE AGRICULTURAL PROJECT, THIS 
SECOND IRANIAN COMPOUND IS NOT AS EASILY VISIBLE FROM 
THE ROAD. 
 
7. OUR SOURCE STATED THAT THIS SECOND COMPOUND, WHICH 
IS ALSO FENCED, IS VERY LARGE.  (HE WAS NOT, HOWEVER, 
MORE SPECIFIC).  IT INCLUDES A NUMBER OF TEMPORARY- 
TYPE STRUCTURES SIMILAR OR SLIGHTLY LARGER IN SIZE TO 
MOBILE HOMES.  THE AREA IS OFF-LIMITS TO THE LOCAL 
TOWNPEOPLE.  OUR SOURCE SAID HE HAD SPOKEN TO LOCAL 
HERDERS WHO COMPLAINED THEY COULD NO LONGER TAKE 
THEIR FLOCKS TO THE SITE, A TRADITIONAL GRAZING AREA. 
 
8. ACCORDING TO OUR SOURCE, THE TOWNSPEOPLE DO NOT 
KNOW WHAT PURPOSE THE SECOND COMPOUND SERVES.  MOST 
MOVEMENT TO AND FROM THE FACILITY IS AT NIGHT.  THE 
IRANIAN STAFF WORKING (AND PRESUMABLY LIVING) THERE 
RARELY VISIT THE NEAR-BY VILLAGES AND HAVE NEXT TO NO 
CONTACT WITH THE LOCAL POPULATION.  REPORTEDLY, ON A 
FEW OCCASIONS NOCTURNAL VEHICLE MOVEMENT TO AND FROM 
THE SITE HAS BEEN HEAVY. 
 
9. COMMENT. AS PART OF ITS PROGRAM OF COOPERATION 
WITH SUDAN, THE IRANIAN GOVERNMENT IS ASSISTING SUDAN 
WITH ROAD-BUILDING AND HAS DESPATCHED IRANIAN 
CONSTRUCTION CREWS AND ROAD-BUILDING EQUIPMENT TO 
SUDAN.  THE LATTER, HOWEVER, ARE ENGAGED IN THE 
CONSTRUCTION OF THE KOSTI-MALAKAL ROAD (PEACE ROAD), 
AN IRANIAN AID PROJECT SOUTH OF KHARTOUM. 
 
10. THE KHARTOUM-SHENDI ROAD IS PART OF A SEPARATE 
ROAD CONSTRUCTION PROJECT WHICH WILL EVENTUALLY LINK 
KHARTOUM TO ATBARA.  THE KHARTOUM-SHENDI PORTION HAS 
ALREADY BEEN PAVED, AND WORK IS BEGINNING ON THE 
SHENDI-ATBARA SECTION.  CONSTRUCTION IS BEING CARRIED 
OUT BY THE "EL HIJRA" CONSTRUCTION COMPANY BELONGING 
TO SAUDI BUSINESSMAN (AND BACKER OF RADICAL CAUSES) 
OSAMA BIN LADEN.  THE COMPANY HAS CONSTRUCTION AND 
MAINTENANCE CAMPS AT REGULAR INTERVALS ALONG THE 
ROAD.  AN EMBASSY OFFICER, SPEAKING TO MEMBERS OF ONE 
OF THE COMPANY'S ROAD CREWS SEVERAL MONTHS AGO, NOTED 
THAT THEY WERE NON-SUDANESE--POSSIBLY PALESTINIAN. 
 
11. IT IS CONCEIVABLE THAT THE PERSONNEL OUR SOURCE 
(A FORMER TOP-RANKING GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL UNDER AN 
EARLIER REGIME, WHO HAS SO FAR PROVEN TO BE RELIABLE) 
BELONG TO THE BIN LADEN CONSTRUCTION PROJECT.  OUR 
SOURCE, HOWEVER, WAS CATEGORICAL THAT THE PERSONNEL 
HE HAS DESCRIBING WERE IRANIAN.  HE FURTHER DESCRIBED 
BOTH THEIR BEHAVIOR AND THE SECURITY SURROUNDING 
THEIR SITE AS UNUSUAL.  WE CANNOT ASCERTAIN PRECISELY 
WHO THEY ARE OR WHAT THEY ARE DOING, BUT PASS ON THE 
INFORMATION IN THE EVENT OTHERS MAY FIND IT OF 
INTEREST. 
 
 
PETTERSON