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Western aid organizations & Christian groups should stop helping rebels in southern Sudan protect themselves from govt troops, says Alliance MP Keith Martin. However, he says Calgary's Talisman Energy Inc. should stay in Sudan, even though he admits the oil revenues it provides help fuel the government war against the rebels. Dr. Martin told a press conference on Parliament Hill yesterday that NGO workers and even Sudanese suffering because of the war told him Talisman should stay because it is one of the few organizations helping people by drilling water wells and providing medical treatment at a company-run hospital. British Columbia MP spent 5 days in Khartoum & southern oil fields, and called for Canada & other countries to take urgent action to stop the brutal war in Sudan, and ward off a growing famine that will soon affect 600,000 people in southern Sudan. He refused to name which western organizations are helping the Sudanese People's Liberation Army, nor give names of aid workers who told him they support Talisman's presence in Sudan.
7.00 Talisman: Blood & Oil in the Sudan
Kathy Vandergrift, spokesperson for World Vision Canada & co-chair of Sudan Inter-Agency Reference Group, coalition of 22 Canadian organizations, denied suggestions by Dr. Martin that members of western NGOs in Sudan support Talisman's continuing presence in Sudan. "If we don't do something about oil revenues, there is no incentive for Sudan govt of Sudan to talk peace," she said. Ms. Vandergrift said IMF has documented that the amount of money the govt has spent on the war has doubled since the oil fields started operating in 1999, and 130,000 people displaced from the area of the oil fields by govt troops. "$500million have gone to the govt and that money is going to the military, not to address the famine," she said. Ms. Vandergrift said Dr. Martin's trip was hardly an independent, balanced view of the situation in Sudan, since he visited only govt controlled areas. "People forced into Bentiu (the area around the oil fields) to get food are unlikely to say anything critical of the people who have given them food," she said. Ms. Vandergrift said Talisman Energy plays a central role in the consortium with its Chinese & Malaysian partners that developed Greater Nile Oil Project in partnership with the Sudanese govt.
She said western firms'participation legitimizes the operation in western eyes. "The question for Canada is, do we want to be a party to what is militarized commerce. This is not a company operating in the context of conflict. This is a company whose business partner, Sudan govt, is chief protagonist in the conflict," she said. Ms. Vandergrift said the Sudan Council of Churches, the Sudanese opposition & many western aid orgs all said Talisman should not be in Sudan. U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, CIRF, also recommended Talisman be de-listed from NY Stock Exchange because of its Sudan role. Khartoum & oil fields junket by Dr. Martin and Liberal MPs Roger Gallaway & Colleen Beaumier was sponsored by National Council of Canada- Arab Relations. 3 council officials also made the trip, which the council estimates cost $18,000. Although the council accepts corporate donations, spokesman Atif Kubursi said it has not accepted money from Talisman Energy. Grens met luwiri, Sudan   WOMEN dig in the sand of the dry riverbed, and after a while water begins to seep into the hole, forming a puddle. Scooping the precious stuff into gourds, they stride back up the hill. Under the blistering sun, the village of Luwiri looks as if it has been this way for centuries: the water drawn, the grain milled and the sesame pressed into oil, all by hand. Not so. Only a few years ago, there was a diesel grinding mill, motorised oil press, and women pumped water from a drilled well, saving hours of hard work. Since the civil war began 17yrs ago, Nuba mountains in central Sudan have been going back in time. Even "back to the stone age", says Daniel Kodi, Nuba native & and founding member of rebel Sudanese People's Liberation Army SPLA. The war is partly about religion, with Islamic, Arab-dominated govt in the north fighting non-Muslim black African southerners. But the Nuba show the war's ethnic dimension. Many of them are Muslim, but, since they are black, they feel they are not accepted. They threw in their lot with the SPLA in 1985 and the govt has enforced stifling blockade. In Luwiri, this means that salt, sugar & clothing are rare. Machines have no fuel, or have broken down. Metal of any kind is scarce: farmers fashion tools with scrap metal, by-product of frequent aerial bombardments. The only modern machines are the ubiquitous Kalashnikovs carried by the SPLA. Despite largest humanitarian airlift in history, little aid gets to the Nuba. The UN has been flying food into southern Sudan since 1989 under Operation Lifeline Sudan. But in order not to violate Sudanese sovereignty, UN must have permission from the Khartoum government as to where it can drop supplies. The govt does not let food into areas it is trying to capture from rebels; Nuba mountains are such an area.
Over 1million people lived there in 1985 per U.S. Committee for Refugees, WashDC NGO. About 300,000 are still in the mountains today. In 1998 the Sudanese govt and UN agreed on plan to fly food in. But this has not even begun to happen. The few non-UN relief flights that break the govt embargo fly trickle of food & other supplies to clandestine airstrip. Advised by rebel radio that such a flight is coming in, people from across the Nuba walk for several hours, or several days, to the airstrip, and wait. The aircraft tumbles along the pitted runway, is quickly unloaded, and departs. "We are a big target," says a crew member as he steps into the plane. "And there's a govt garrison just over the hill." The few tons of food these pilots unload in the area every month or so disappear like rain on parched fields.

    Christians in Sudan tests Bush stance; evangelicals urge intervention
    3.16.01   Steven Mufson WashPost pA1
… Rm116 Longworth HOB … 40 activists incl evangelical Christians, rabbi, black radio talk show host and aides to conservative senators all united in crusade for U.S. intervention to help Sudan's largely Christian south in civil war with predominantly Islamic government in north. Many in room personally traveled to Sudan to pay money to "redeem" southerners abducted by northern raiders & pressed into slavery. "I felt like someone put me in a time machine, like I was in a scene from Roots " radio host, Joe Madison said of visit to Africa's most expansive country. "I was literally just torn apart." Such passionate appeals quickly make 17yr Sudanese civil war the first test of Bush administration's humanitarian posture abroad. Fighting contributed to more than 2 million deaths from violence & hunger; no clear U.S. national interests are at stake. American companies have no large investments in Sudan; it's far from U.S. bases, precisely the kind of place Pres. Bush & advisers said they wanted to avoid during last year's election campaign when they criticized Clinton administration for undertaking "nation building" and failing to focus on the "big" foreign policy issues such as Russia & China.

Persecution of Christians & minority ethnic groups in s. Sudan mobilized many in Republican base from neoconservative interventionists to evangelical Christians. They press for tightened economic sanctions, sending special envoy, arming southern forces or even declaring "no-fly" zones similar to Iraq, requiring U.S. military action. They push Sudan onto foreign policy agenda and force Bush to choose between campaign promises and ardent, vocal wing of his party. Diverse coalition incl conservative Rep. Frank R. Wolf R-VA; liberal former D.C. delegate Walter Fauntroy (D); Rabbi David Saperstein of Reform Judaism Social Action Ctr; and aide of Rev. Franklin Graham, son of Rev. Billy Graham. "To me this is a moral outrage," said younger Graham, who gave the invocation at Bush's inauguration and whose organization, Samaritan's Purse, runs a hospital in s. Sudan bombed 9 times. "We should use our economic power to bring this Sudanese govt down, persuade them to change policies and, if need be, use military option as last resort," he said.

3.16.01 editorial Sudan policy wanted WashPost

3.11.01 commentary Suddenly Sudan Mary McGrory

2.10.01 commentary Stay committed in SudanSusan E. Rice

7.99 In some cases, U.S. strategy is more convoluted & Machiavellian. In the Sudan, for example, it's long evident U.S. wants to keep rebels sufficiently viable to avoid defeat, but not strong enough to pose serious threat of govt's overthrow. "Peace," an "official" is quoted as saying, does not necessarily suit American interests … unstable Sudan amounts to a stable Egypt."

The administration is starting to listen. Last week, White House political adviser Karl Rove
  [ Cheney's 2nd in command as appted by Poppy Bush ]
met with Saperstein, former Ed. secretary Wm Bennett, prison evangelist Chuck Colson and others to discuss U.S. policy options for Sudan. "Whatever the policy discipline that people seek to impose, they never stop being human beings in a very deep way," Saperstein said afterward. "Whatever the policy analysis, this is an issue that clearly touches the conscience and soul of some administration leaders." Politics matter too. Earlier this month at Senate Foreign Relations Committee, SecState Colin Powell was cross-examined on U.S. policy toward Sudan by Bill Frist R-TN & Sam Brownback R-KS. Powell also met with Wolf, new head of the appropriations subcommittee that handles the State Dept's budget. Frist, Brownback & Wolf have all visited southern Sudan.

[ Seattle 1999's continued influence induces tories to feign intervention sympathies, albeit for strategic destabilization. ]
On Thursday at Catholic University cultural ctr dedication, Bush himself noted the issue, declaring "we're responsible to stand for human dignity & religious freedom wherever denied, from Cuba to China to southern Sudan." Civil war between Sudan's Arab & Islamic north and largely black non-Islamic south began in 1955, when southern troops mutinied & demanded autonomy or secession. A 1972 accord ended the fighting. But discovery of oil near middle of country combined with imposition of sharia, Islamic law, by govt in capital Khartoum, reignited the violence in 1983. Since 1989, U.S. sent more than $1.2 billion of humanitarian aid to Sudan. But relations strained both by the war & by Sudan's alleged support for terrorists. U.S. Embassy personnel were withdrawn in 1996. U.S. trade sanctions imposed in 1997; notable exception allows imports of gum arabic, an ingredient in many packaged foods and soft drinks. In Aug. 1998, Pres. Clinton auth. cruise missile attack on suspected chemical weapons site which turned out to be pharmaceutical factory, adding confusion about whether Clinton's top priority was to topple Sudanese regime, push democratic reforms or concentrate on a peace settlement.
U.S. Commission on Intl Religious Freedom established by Congress issued annual report this week, branding Sudan "world's most violent abuser of right to freedom of religion & belief." It strongly backed tighter economic sanctions, bars to U.S. capital markets for companies exploiting Sudanese oil, appt of high-profile envoy & direct U.S. assistance to Sudanese southerners. "It may mean radios, it may mean trucks, it may mean medical kits," said one commission member. "It's not lethal aid, but I don't think you could call this humanitarian aid." Some church groups are organizing an economic campaign modeled on the one against S.Africa during 1980s, pressing pension funds & universities to divest stock in companies involved in Sudan's oil sector. Several institutional investors incl TIAA-CREF, New Jersey's state pension fund, city of New York and Texas teachers' retirement fund already done so.
Radio host Madison said he is working with Fauntroy, Coretta Scott King & activist Dick Gregory to try to stop feuding within African American community about whether people of color can enslave other people of color and whether southern Sudanese have been abducted or enslaved. "My point is abduction is the verb, slavery is the noun," he said. Like other African Americans involved in the Sudan issue, Madison said he is amazed to be making common cause with conservatives such as Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), with whom he shook hands at a recent hearing. Al Sharpton also plans a trip to Sudan along with King, former Atlanta mayor Maynard Jackson and black corporate leaders to buy the freedom of slaves. U.S. Catholic Conference in Nov. condemned "cruel, fratricidal conflict in Sudan," might send a delegation led by Boston's Cardinal Bernard Law to Sudan at the end of the month.

Sudan's 35 million population incl about 2.5 million Catholics, and total 5 million Christians. Support also comes from U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, which has made the plight of s. Sudan the first exhibit mounted by its committee of conscience. Jerry Fowler, committee dir., said "organized violence is underway that threatens to become genocide … and U.S. needs to place higher priority on it." "I do think a critical mass is being reached. This could be the year of Sudan," added Elliott Abrams, Committee on Intl Religious Freedom chairman. [ Abrams' penance? ] "The great unknown is the administration's attitude. Some things said during campaign suggest administration wants to be careful of crusades. On the other hand, the president is an evangelical with close ties to Franklin Graham & Chuck Colson." Colson, Nixon official convicted in Watergate, now ministers to prisoners and has growing interest in Sudan.
Critics of aiding southern forces point out leading rebel group Sudanese Peoples' Liberation Army, has checkered human rights record. Recent fighting also has been reported between the SPLA and another southern group, Sudan Peoples' Democratic Front. Washington think-tank Ctr for Strategic & Intl Studies issued report recommending that instead of aiding such groups, Bush administration should restaff largely empty U.S. Embassy in Khartoum, focus on negotiations to end the war and support "one country, two systems" plan that would preserve a single Sudan with two self-governing regions, north & south. Timothy M. Carney, last U.S. ambassador to Khartoum, also favors diplomacy over military aid. He flew to Sudan in January and met with all key politicians in north, incl President Omar Hassan Bashir. "Bottom line is that the desire for peace is real from Bashir on down, but the will has not yet crystallized," Carney said.
[ usual Foggy Bottom doublespeak ]
"There is realization they can't win the war in south and they stopped using terms like Islamic mission and jihad." Proponents of aiding southern forces contend northern regime is impervious to diplomacy. "We have used that leverage & not succeeded," argued Ted Dagne, Cong. Research Service expert on Sudan who opposes restaffing the embassy and favors support for the SPLA. "I say to the Bush administration, 'Can you live with this government or not?' And if not, give support that would bring about the downfall of the government," he said. "There is no other way."
[ CRS is now directly quoted as policy advocates ?! Triumph of the Hill rats ]
    Khartoum torture rehab ctr Med. Dir. arrested by security forces
    3.12.01   IRCT
    Paul Dalton 45.22.18.50.57   Suzanne Munro Clark 45.22.62.07.82
3.11.01 Dr. Nageeb Nigm El Din Amal Centre for Rehabilitation of Victims of Physical & Mental Trauma Medical Director in Khartoum was arrested by Sudanese security forces, together with Ms Zeinab Mohammed Ahmad, secretary, and Mr Fathi Mohammed Abderrahman, centre administrator. According to information received by IRCT, security forces conducted searches of Centre and Dr Najib's home, confiscated computer equipment & papers, incl confidential client records. 3 detainees then taken to interrogation centre. Ms Ahmad & Mr Abderrahman were released late yesterday evening, but Dr Najib remains under arrest been transferred to the high security Koper Prison on the outskirts of Khartoum. Not yet known basis to hold Dr Najib or charges against him. Timing of his arrest cause for concern: due to meet UN Special Rapporteur on HRts in Sudan, Mr Gerhard Baum, in Khartoum tomorrow, Tuesday 13th March.
Amal Centre provides free medical treatment & counselling services to torture victims and of organised violence first ever treatment centre for victims of torture in Sudan, established by IRCT Nov, 2000 with EU support. Dr Najib arrested & tortured several prev. occasions, leaving ongoing health problems. Also concern for other centre staff & clients. IRCT calling Sudanese Govt to:
•   ensure immediate & safe release of Dr Najib;
•   return all confiscated Amal Ctr equipt & documents incl confidential med. records & ensure document copies destroyed;
•   take all necessary steps to guarantee ongoing safety of Amal Centre personnel & clients
from U.S. Committee for Refugees
3.16.01 Sudan Military Continues Aerial Bombing of Civilian Sites; Intl Community stays mute
12.13.00 Bombings of Civilian Targets in Sudan Doubled; 132 Confirmed Aerial Attacks This Year
11.7.00 Sudan Govt bombs civilian targets per Aid Workers
10.13.00 Govt renews aerial bombings after losing bid for UN Security Council Seat
10.11.00 U.S. successfully block Sudan seat on UN Security Council
6.13.00 7million flee last year; Refugee total rises for first time in 7yrs
3.17.00 Clinton inaction on escalated bombing of Sudanese civilians
•   Nuba People cultural liquidation
•   Quantifying Genocide in s. Sudan & Nuba Mtns 1983-1998 pdf
UN map
AttyGeneral extends designation of Burundi, Sierra Leone & Sudan for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) until 11.2.01
11.9.00   Eligible nationals of Burundi, Sierra Leone & Sudan or persons having no nationality who last resided there may reregister for TPS and extension of work authorization. Re- registration is limited to persons who registered for the initial TPS designation which ended 11.3.98, who registered under the redesignation which ended 11.2.00 or who registered under the late initial registration provisions. 30-day re-registration period began 11.9.00 and remained in effect until 12.11.00

Sudanese dialogue forum preparations
Sudan-Egypt, Politics, 3/2/2001

It was agreed in Cairo that the Egyptian- Libyan initiative committee has called for convening a national dialogue forum on national reconciliation in March. Following his talks with the Egyptian foreign minister Amr Moussa, the chairman of the Democratic National Coalition Muhammad Othman al-Meirghani said that an invitation will be extended to all Sudanese sides concerned to discuss the comprehensive political solution and the steps expected in the coming phase. It is expected, however, that the Egyptian foreign minister and his Sudanese counterpart Mustafa Othman Ismael will meet in Tripoli with Libyan officials in the course of revitalizing the Libyan- Egyptian initiative.

New York   Defector from Osama bin Laden's alleged terrorist network gave dramatic account of its inner workings 2.6.01, telling NY jury that the militant Islamic organization received military & political support from Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon and from Sudan's ruling Islamic party. Jamal Ahmed Fadl, U.S. informant since 1996 whose identity previously kept secret by govt, was first witness in federal trial of 4 men accused of conspiring to bomb American embassies in Kenya & Tanzania 8.7.98. Fadl, 38, said he was inducted into the group known as al Qaeda, Arabic for "the Base", in 1989 in Afghanistan as one of earliest members. He also said he was present when bin Laden declared war on U.S. in early 1990s and vowed to drive American forces from Saudi Arabia & other Arab countries. "We have to cut the head off the snake and stop them," Fadl quoted bin Laden as saying in late 1993. "The snake is America." Dressed in blue jeans and a white skull cap, the former Sudanese militant described organization's political structure, military strategy & links to Islamic revolutionaries from Chechnya to Yemen, including its purchase of farms for military training in Sudan. Fadl said al Qaeda was founded in 1989 by Islamic freedom fighters who had driven the Soviet army out of Afghanistan. When war ended, bin Laden, son of a Saudi construction magnate, found new enemy: moderate, pro-Western Arab govts, incl Egypt & Saudi Arabia, and the U.S. He moved his HQ to Sudan, establishing series of businesses to conceal group's activities and finance operations. Fadl said bin Laden declared war on U.S. in 1991, after American troops established bases in Saudi Arabia, site of Islam's holiest places, to drive Iraq from Kuwait during the Persian Gulf War. "They can't let the American army stay in the gulf, taking our oil, taking our money," Fadl quoted bin Laden as saying. "We have to do something to take them out. We have to fight them."
Bin Laden, believed living in Afghanistan, indicted in embassy bombings case; State Dept offered $5 million reward for his capture. U.S. pressured Afghanistan's ruling Taliban to surrender bin Laden, but to no avail. U.S. officials also suspect bin Laden of involvement in suicide bombing of Navy destroyer USS Cole in Oct. 2000 in Yemeni port Aden which killed 17 sailors. According to prosecution, Fadl, who previously was identified in court documents only as "CS-1," for Confidential Source No. 1, broke ranks with bin Laden after caught stealing money from the Saudi exile. Fadl pleaded guilty to unspecified charge and is cooperating with govt under plea agreement, prosecutors said. "In attempt to save himself & his family, he approached the American govt & offered to provide information," Asst U.S. Atty Paul Butler said in opening argument Monday. Fadl said he lived & studied in U.S. in mid- 1980s and attended mosque in Brooklyn where recruited to fight in Afghanistan against Soviets. In Afghanistan, he met bin Laden. At end of Afghan war, he said bin Laden proposed to form a new organization "to change our [Arab] govts. We need one Muslim government for the whole Muslim world." Fadl said he then traveled with his brother to a secret guesthouse in Afghanistan, where he signed three papers and swore allegiance to al Qaeda, pledging his life to holy war. "Whatever it was they ask you, you have to do it," he said.

Although Fadl claims to have played no direct role in U.S. embassies' bombings which killed 224 & injured more than 4,000, prosecution hopes his testimony will help show al Qaeda is a sophisticated organization determined to kill Americans around the globe. Fadl said al Qaeda members received extensive training in use of explosives and disguises. During visit to Egypt, for example, he shaved his beard, wore cologne and lit a cigarette to fool border guards into thinking he was a Western playboy rather than a religious zealot. When bin Laden moved his headquarters to Sudan in 1991, Fadl said, he was ordered to manage leader's businesses. On behalf of bin Laden, he said, he purchased a farm north of Khartoum and a salt flat near Port Sudan for $430,000. Those properties were used to grow corn & sesame and to train al Qaeda's members in the use of light weapons and explosives, he said. Fadl testified the terrorist organization maintained close ties with Sudan's govt, including Sudanese intelligence agency, which provided information on suspicious Afghan travelers who entered the country. In addition, Sudan Airlines transported weapons from Afghanistan, and Sudan's Pres. Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir provided one of bin Laden's businesses with handwritten letter that enabled it to bring goods into the country without being searched, he said. "We don't have to pay tax. … They don't search our containers," he said in heavily accented English. "I show them the letter and they say, okay. No problem."

Sudan peace process resemblance to the same in MidEast: As negotiations continue, the truth begins to emerge, as to what party is sabotaging peace. The "Netanyahu" of the Sudanese situation, is John Garang, leader of the remaining rebel forces known as Sudanese People's Liberation Movement & Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLM-SPLA). Garang consistently refused to attend any direct negotiation with Sudan govt; he depends "Christian fundamentalist" forces in Britain & U.S. who feed confrontation in the MidEast. Since the current Sudan govt relaunched a peace initiative, Garang balked on grounds that his demands were not being met. When the govt signed peace agreements in 1996 & 1997 with majority of rebel factions, texts incl those points Garang insisted on, incl self-determination for s. Sudan through referendum which would include secession option. At the same time, peace talks were convened.
During May 4-6, just as referendum was beginning, representatives of the govt and SPLM-SPLA met in Nairobi under aegis of Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a group of neighboring countries. The meeting was chaired by Ambassador Ahmed Issa Gabobeh, representing the IGAD, and Dr. Kinfe Abraham, head of IGAD Political & Humanitarian Affairs. Sudan govt sent delegation led by Foreign Affairs minister Dr. Mustafa Osman Ismail and SPLM-SPLA delegation was led by Commander Nhial Deng Nhial, Governor of Bahr al Ghazal. Although Khartoum spokesmen cautioned that it would be too much to expect a breakthrough in such a short period of time, significant progress seemed to have been made by the final May 6 communiqué. It stated the parties agreed to self-determination referendum, as well as facilitation of humanitarian aid to the civilian population, and to a cease-fire, which would render this possible.

Garang's forces, using same methodology of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, "interpreted" the terms to their liking. In a background paper, the Sudan govt presented its updated position on the negotiations, which said that it "pledged to respond positively (to appeals) and accept a cease-fire and an immediate cessation of hostilities if the other party will reciprocate." In the talks, according to the communiqué released by the IGAD ministerial subcommittee, "Without prejudice to the commitment" to facilitate the free and unimpeded flow of humanitarian assistance to all areas affected by the famine in South Sudan, government of Sudan "offered a cease-fire & immediate cessation of hostilities and expects the other party to reciprocate." The SPLM-SPLA, however, "is of the opinion that unhindered relief assistance to the needy, should not be linked to a cease-fire and believes that a cease-fire, which it welcomes in principle, be negotiated separately as per the [Declaration of Principles]." In other words, the Garang forces reject a cease-fire but demand humanitarian aid be made available, essentially to supply the forces under their control.
On self-determination, the Sudan govt called for a federal system, which has been a demand of the Southern Sudanese since 1947, and has been institutionalized by this govt, to be given an opportunity to be fully implemented in the South. Following an interim period, already agreed to by all the other rebel forces, during which the south can be reconstructed and rehabilitated, and displaced persons can be repatriated, the referendum should be held, "by the people of South Sudan to determine their political destiny on the two options of unity or secession." The Sudan govt stated further that this referendum should take place in the south, "with the boundaries of the south as recognized since the independence of Sudan as of Jan. 1, 1956."
The SPLM-SPLA, pursuing the war explicitly on the basis of its claims that self-determination had been denied, came up with a new map of what Southern Sudan is. "The people of Southern Sudan, Abyel, Southern Kordofan and Southern Blue Nile, shall, before the end of the Interim Period, exercise the right of self-determination through an internationally supervised & monitored referendum," and opt for remaining part of a "single united Sudan" or "statehood, i.e. becoming a separate sovereign state". The interim period, for the SPLM-SPLA is to be of 2 years. Significance of SPLM-SPLA's interpretation is that the rebels have redrawn the map of the country, adding entire federal states to what is South Sudan. The "Greater Southern Sudan" they would like to claim and eventually have secede contains the most oil, other precious minerals, and water supplies in the country.

Finally, on the issue of state &and religion, there was not even verbal agreement. This is due to the SPLM-SPLA's insistence that the "legal system … in place in Sudan prior to Sept. 1983 … be reinstated by the immediate repeal of {Sharia}-based enactments." The rebels demand that the Islamic legal code be abolished; the Sudan govt of Sudan has stipulated, and all other rebel groups have agreed, that "religion, custom & consensus of the nation shall be the sources of legislation." This means, as is spelled out in detail in the Constitution, that Islamic law would prevail only where there is a Muslim majority, and that, in the South, law would be based on custom. The SPLM-SPLA also rejected the Constitution out of hand, demanding "all remaining formal measures for adoption of such a Constitution ought to be terminated."
Talks ended with agreement to certain principles, such as self-determination but with opposing interpretations. Where the sides did not find any common ground, they agreed to meet again, in an effort to thrash out their differences. As was the case in recent attempts to bring Palestinian Authority and Israeli govt to a summit, one important feature of the Sudanese talks was that the war party, Garang's, was put with its back to the wall and exposed as the saboteur of peace. If the referendum on the Constitution in Sudan, secures, as is expected, a majority in its favor, this will place added pressure on the Sudanese Netanyahu, to face reality and come to terms with peace.

Political advisor for Sudanese Pres. Abdul Basset Sabadrat announced upon Cairo arrival Wed. that he is visiting in preparation for visit of former Sudanese Pres. Jafar al-Numeiri to his. The Sudanese advisor added that the objective of his visit to Cairo is to prepare for Numeiri's return back to Khartoum at the instructions of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. The Sudanese President Numeiri ruled Sudan between 1969 until 1985 and he spent some 14 years in exile following a military coupe led by Lt. Gen. Abdul Rahman Sewar al-Zahab, who transferred the authority to the civilians during one year of his rule. One of Numieri's aides said that the former President will return back to Sudan following consultations with the reception committee which was formed by President al-Bashir and that this return back home by al-Numeiri will be on May between 17 and 25.
[ Notes   Numieri Sudanese dictator, who only years earlier had fallen into the Soviet orbit. But when Ethiopia and Libya became Soviet clients, then US interests in the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa facilitated a convenient embrace. As a result, from 1980 to1985, only Egypt among African nations received more economic and military aid than Sudan. cf. Mark Curtis, Christian Aid org in recent issue of British based Guardian article "Boom time for few signals misery & death for many".
When colonial powers introduced their market economy in Sudan towards the end of the last century, they simultaneously restricted its development and expansion by indigenous Sudanese in order to maintain political and economic control. After independence, however, a Sudanese 'national bourgeoisie' began to evolve from a primarily mercantile social class now ostensibly freed from colonial control. ] … The purpose of … the independent counsel has been to force, either through the weakening of the administration or its removal, a sharp shift to the right. … By bombing Afghanistan & Sudan, Clinton sent a clear signal that survival of his presidency depends upon his adopting the platform of his opponents. … Senator Orrin Hatch, who on Monday night had publicly called Clinton a "jerk," and Wall St Journal, which on Tuesday had branded him a "sociopath," applauded the bombing. Media universally proclaimed Clinton a liar in the Lewinsky affair but quickly accepted unsubstantiated administration claimsre unilateral attacks on Sudan & Afghanistan without any warning. Claims made to justify administration's actions:

claim   "Convincing evidence" existed to prove Saudi exile Osama bin Laden was responsible for the Aug. 7 car bomb blasts at U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
Setting aside differences between "convincing evidence" and conclusive proof, not unimportant distinction where military strikes are involved, no credible factual substantiation has been thus far presented. If U.S. govt had discovered incriminating evidence at the African embassy bomb sites, it would have made it public. Within the timeline offered by the govt between the embassy explosions and decision to launch the retaliatory attacks, no such evidence could have been discovered, let alone analyzed. The bomb blasts occurred Aug. 7 p.m.. By Aug. 12, retaliation plan been drawn up, approved by Clinton Aug. 14. Previous experience shows that it takes weeks and months to uncover and analyze forensic evidence from such blasts. In this case investigators were only beginning to sift through the rubble and question witnesses when the attack plans were made. No analysis of material from the site could have been carried out. None of it had even been shipped back to the US for further study.

claim nbsp; Cruise missile attack was required to prevent another impending terrorist attack like those of Aug. 7
Flatly contradicted by spate of warnings from State Dept that Thursday's strike placed US facilities & citizens around the world in danger of retaliatory action. Impossible to explain how an imminent attack, presumably in its operational stages at the time the cruise missiles were fired, could be prevented by bombing a pharmaceutical plant & a desert camp located hundreds of miles from any potential terrorist target. There are, after all, no American citizens or functioning embassies in Afghanistan or Sudan. Furthermore, now that the danger has been neutralized, why haven't its plan, scope and target been made public? Precisely who or what was in jeopardy? If US intelligence services could determine with such certainty that a terrorist attack was imminent, presumably through a network of agents & contacts close to bin Laden who tracked his movements and activities, why could they not foresee & prevent Aug. 7 car bombs? What accounts for the remarkable improvement in US intelligence information that has taken place over the last two weeks?

During standoff with Iraq in Feb. 1998, Clinton administration, not willing at that point to take military action w/o support of UN Security Council, accepted compromise negotiated by UN SecGen K.Annan. At time, right-wing editorialists & Republican Party leaders denounced Clinton for subordinating decisions about US military policy to this intl body. In contrast, on Thursday US SecState M.Albright emphasized that Clinton Administration acted unilaterally & would do so again. & The administration did not say whether it received permission to send missiles across Pakistani airspace. Clinton said Thursday's attack would not be an isolated event. He proclaimed that U.S. is now engaged in ongoing "war" against "terrorist" threat around the globe.

WASHINGTON In the wake of any apparent terrorist attack, it's always the first question asked: "Who did it?" But amid the blood and debris of Friday's U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, depressingly few clues point to a culprit. Experts on East Africa came up empty in their initial search for possible suspects or motives within the region. "I'm comfortable with the notion this has nothing to do with internal African politics," said Forum for Intl Policy Africa specialist Walter Kansteiner in Washington. "In Kenya, opposition parties are very pro- American, so there's not the motivation to do this and, quite frankly, not the instinct or capability. It's the same in Tanzania." …
Search for survivors of US embassy bombing in Nairobi, Kenya death toll 247, 5,436 injured. Another 10 people died & 70 were injured in simultaneous bombing of US Dar es-Salaam Tanzania embassy. At least three Kenyan employees of the embassy are still missing, along with an unknown but likely much larger number of victims in the rubble of the Ufundi House, next door to the embassy. Several hundred FBI & American police bomb site investigators flooded Nairobi, cordoning off area around embassy to determine type of explosive & identity of vehicle used. Official report is not expected for many months. … Several US & Israeli sources, including ABC News and Tel Aviv newspaper Ha'aretz, reported Wednesday that US informant in Kenya warned the American govt 2 weeks before the blast that Nairobi embassy targeted for a bomb attack. Informant was Israel Mossad intelligence service contact, but when American officials checked with Mossad about the reliability of the source, they were advised to treat the report with skepticism. No special security measures were taken at the embassy.
Office of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu refused comment on the Ha'aretz article. But Israeli govt's dismissal of advance warning may account for its extraordinary effort to supply bomb experts and rescue teams in the wake of the bombing, not otherwise been explained. Second warning 4 four days before explosion, according to the Nation, English-language daily newspaper published in Nairobi. A security guard working near the Nairobi embassy saw a man videotaping the building, protected by two bodyguards. When the cameraman saw he had been observed, he and his escorts jumped into a car and sped away. The security guard reported the incident to guards at the embassy, who seemed uninterested. Even though, according to ABC News, all American facilities in the Middle East and South Asia had been put on security alert against a threatened terrorist attack, no special security measures were ordered in E.Africa even after the second report.

Most accounts of the bombing in American press named a Saudi exile, Osama bin Laden, as the most likely suspect. … Attitude of American officials to Kenyan & Tanzanian police investigations is also curious. After Tanzanian officials arrested several dozen people in Dar es- Salaam, the State Department belittled the action as little more than a roundup of "the usual suspects." The announcement by Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi that an unspecified number of suspects had been arrested in Nairobi was also dismissed as unlikely to represent an advance in the investigation. NYTimes reported claims of some eyewitnesses in Nairobi that truck used in embassy bombing had American diplomatic license plates. Another eyewitness claimed the man who leaped from the truck and threw a hand grenade just before the bomb blast was wearing a blue uniform identical to that worn by embassy guards. WashPost report Wednesday based on CIA leak in which the agency claimed to have foiled two recent attempts to bomb American embassies in the MidEast quotes Robert Oakley, former State Dept coordinator for counterterrorism, on US efforts to infiltrate terrorist groups targeting American facilities. He recalled mid-1980s episode when U.S. intelligence recruited a terrorist who had been assigned to bomb an American embassy in Europe. The putative bomber, Oakley said, was allowed to detonate a bomb inside the embassy compound in such a way that little damage was done, far removed from US personnel, so that his relationship with US intelligence was not exposed."
… NYTimes suggested Libya as target Wednesday while an editorial vilified Iraq. WashPost added Syria & Islamic fundamentalist groups based in Yemen & Egypt. Wall St Journal column same day denounced Clinton administration for ignoring evidence Iran was behind blasts, declaring the attack on the embassies "an act of war." The Journal cited 1986 US bombing raids on Libya ordered by Ronald Reagan as an example for Clinton. Another WSJ column by Wash correspondent, revealed that the Pentagon changed composition of US forces in the Persian Gulf region after last Feb. confrontation with Saddam Hussein, so protracted buildup not required before launching air strikes against targets in Iraq. Such attacks could be launched against Iraq or any other target in region literally overnight.

State Dept HRts 2000 report
9.5.00   Intl Religious Freedom 2000 report Bureau of Democracy, HRts & Labor
Country page ante 1.20.01
press releases   archive

Reliefweb projects

Republic of the Sudan embassy   chancery 202.338.8565 f 667.2406   2210 Massachusetts Ave NW WashDC 20008
members of mission staff w/ diplomatic rank & full immunity under Vienna Conv. on Diplomatic Relations
His Excellency Mahdi Ibrahim MOHAMED Ambassador Extraordinary & Plenipotentiary;   Mrs. Wahbia Abdalla Ahmed
Mr. Eltayeb Ali AHMED, Counselor;   Mrs. Buthayna Idris Ahmed
202.338.8565   Cultural Counselor Office 2612 Woodley Place NW WashDC 20008
Mr. Azhari Mohamed ELAMIN, Attache (Admin);   Mrs. Ekhlas Mohamed Bayoumi
202.797.8863 466.6281 f 745.2615   Information Attache Office 2210 Massachusetts Ave NW WashDC 20008.

Peace Wing pdf Sudan per OFAC U.S. Treasury Dept Office of Foreign Assets Control administers & enforces economic & trade sanctions against targeted foreign countries, terrorism sponsoring organizations & intl narcotics traffickers
Approved govt procurement list: Univ. of Gezira, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Nuclear Medicine & Molecular Biology

SUDAN   What You Need To Know About U.S. Sanctions
No U.S. bank, incl its foreign branches, may finance, or arrange offshore financing for, third- country trade transactions where Sudan is known to be the ultimate destination of, or the Govt of Sudan is the purchaser of, the goods. Arranging transactions which ultimately benefit Sudan (for example, brokering third-country sales to Sudan) constitutes an exportation of brokerage services to Sudan in violation of the Regulations. The Regulations also prohibit non-U.S. persons from unauthorized re-exportation of U.S. origin goods to Sudan.

SPECIALLY DESIGNATED NATIONALS   Individuals or organizations that are owned or controlled by, or act on behalf of, the Govt of Sudan anywhere in the world may be named by the U.S. Treasury Dept as "Specially Designated Nationals" ("SDNs") of Sudan. U.S. persons are prohibited from transacting business with these individuals & entities, and all of their property in the United States or in the possession or control of a U.S. person is blocked. Their names are published in the Federal Register, an official publication of the U.S. Govt. A listing of such SDNs may be obtained by calling the Office of Foreign Assets Control ("OFAC") at 202.622.2490. The listing, however, is a partial one and any U.S. individual or organization engaging in transactions with foreign nationals must take reasonable care to make certain that such foreign nationals are not owned or controlled by or acting on behalf of Sudan. U.S. individuals or organizations who violate the Regulations by transacting business with Specially Designated Nationals may be subject to civil or criminal prosecution.

SUDANESE GOVT ASSETS BLOCKED   Effective 11.4.97, all property & interests in property of the Govt of Sudan, incl its agencies, instrumentalities & controlled entities and SDNs, in the U.S. or in the possession or control of a U.S. person, incl their overseas branches, are blocked. All transfers of such property must be authorized by the OFAC. Any unlicensed funds transfer involving a direct or indirect interest of the Govt of Sudan (incl any transfer routed to a Sudanese Govt controlled bank) for which banks subject to U.S. jurisdiction receive instructions must be deposited into a blocked account on the books of the bank receiving the instructions. Such funds may not be returned to a remitter without a specific license from the OFAC. No unlicensed debits may be made to blocked accounts to pay obligations of U.S. or other persons, whether the obligations arose before or after the sanctions against Sudan were imposed. Setoffs against blocked accounts are prohibited.

FINANCIAL DEALINGS WITH SUDAN   Payments for and financing of licensed sales of agricultural commodities and products, medicine & medical equipt may be accomplished by cash in advance, sales on open account (provided the account receivable is not transferred by the person extending the credit), or by third country financial institutions that are neither U.S. persons nor govt of Sudan entities. U.S. banks may advise or confirm letters of credit issued by third country banks covering licensed sales. Payments for licensed sales of agricultural commodities and products, medicine & medical equipt, which must reference an appropriate OFAC license, may not involve a debit to a blocked account on the books of a U.S. depository institution. Before a U.S. bank initiates a payment, or credits its customer for a licensed transaction, it must determine that the transfer is authorized. As a rule, all other financial dealings with Sudan are prohibited, incl the performance by any U.S. person of any contract, incl a financing contract, in support of an industrial, commercial, public utility, or governmen-tal project in Sudan.
U.S. persons are authorized to send and receive personal remittances to and from Sudan, provided that such transfers are not processed through a bank owned or controlled by the Govt of Sudan. Financing related to trade contracts involving Sudan which were in place prior to 11.4.97, and for which underlying transactions were completed by 12.4.97, may be completed in accordance with their terms, provided that no debits are made to a blocked account.

PROHIBITED FACILITATION   The Regulations prohibit the facilitation by a U.S. person of the direct or indirect exportation or reexportation of goods, technology or services to or from Sudan. Facilitation of a trade or financial transaction that could be lawfully engaged in directly by a U.S. person or from the United States is not prohibited. Likewise, performance of services of a purely clerical or reporting nature that does not further trade or financial transactions with Sudan or the Govt of Sudan will not violate the prohibition on exportation of services to Sudan. NGOs   Registration numbers may be issued by OFAC on a case-by-case basis to non-governmental organizations ("NGOs") involved in humanitarian or religious activities in Sudan. A registration number authorizes certain transactions by or on behalf of the registered NGO that would be otherwise prohibited, such as the exportation of goods or services, or the transfer of funds directly into Sudan, for the purpose of relieving human suffering. Applications for registration must include the following information (names of individuals and organizations should be provided in English, or transliterated when that is not possible, and in the language of origin, and should include any acronym or other names used to identify the individuals or organizations):
(a) Organization name;
(b) Address and phone number of the organization's headquarters location;
(c) Full name, nationality, citizenship, current country of residence, birth dates and places of birth for key staff at the organization's headquarters, such as the chairman and board members, president, director, etc.;
(d) Identification of field offices or partner offices elsewhere, incl addresses, phone numbers, and organizational names used, as well as the identification of the senior officer(s) at these locations, incl their name, nationality, citizenship, position, and date of birth;
(e) Identification of subcontracting organizations, if any, to the extent known or contemplated at the time of the proposal;
(f) Existing sources of income, such as official grants, private endowments, commercial activities, etc.;
(g) Financial institutions that hold deposits on behalf of or extend lines of credit to the organization;
(h) Independent accounting firms (if employed in the production of the organization's financial statements);
(i) Most recent official registry documents, annual reports, and annual filings with the local govt, as applicable / available;
(j) Names and addresses of organizations that the applicant currently provides or proposes to provide funding, services or material support to, as applicable;
(k) A detailed description of the organization's humanitarian or religious activities and projects in Sudan.

Registrants conducting transactions for their Sudanese operations should reference their registration number on all funds transfer, purchase, shipping, and financing documents. Registration numbers are valid for three years; OFAC records must be updated by Registrants with any changes to (a) - (j) that take place within the three-year period. If you have information regarding possible violations of any of these regulations, please call the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control at 202/622-2430. Your call will be handled confidentially.

SUMMARY OF REGULATIONS RELATING TO COMMERCIAL SALES OF FOOD, MEDICINE, AND MEDICAL EQUIPT TO IRAN, LIBYA, AND SUDAN   OFAC has taken steps, after close consultation with the Depts of State & Agriculture, to implement the policy announced by President Clinton on April 28 to authorize, with appropriate safeguards, commercial sales of food, medicine and medical equipt under existing unilateral sanctions regimes. This policy affirmed the President's earlier statement that "...food and other human necessities should not be used as a tool of foreign policy except under extraordinary circumstances." The implementation is in the form of regulations amending the current sanctions regimes for Iran, Libya and Sudan in accordance with guidance from the Department of State developed following an interagency process. The new regulations provide that licenses will be issued on a case-by-case basis and with appropriate safeguards to allow commercial sales of food, medicine & medical equipt to approved buyers in Iran, Libya & Sudan.

What items are covered under this new policy?
This new licensing policy applies to agricultural commodities & products that are intended for ultimate consumption as food by humans or animals. This incl raw, processed & packaged foods, animal feeds & pet food, live food animals, seeds for food crops, and reproductive materials for the production of food animals. It does not include non-food agricultural commodities, such as cotton or tobacco. The new licensing policy also applies to medicines, incl those administered by injection, and medical equipt, as long as the medicines & medical equipt are not listed on the Commerce Control List, which is a list maintained by the Dept of Commerce of goods that are controlled for export to certain countries for reasons of national security, nuclear nonproliferation, anti-terrorism, and so on.

Who are the approved buyers in Iran, Libya and Sudan?
The specific licenses that are issued under this policy will allow sales to:
· private individuals acting for their own account;
· nongovernmental entities; and
· govt procurement bodies identified by the Office of Foreign Assets Control as not being affiliated with the coercive organs of the state.

A list of such approved govt procurement bodies will be available on OFAC's Web site and from its FAX-on-Demand service and will be provided to each licensee. This list will be updated from time to time, as necessary. In addition, persons applying for specific licenses can propose adding other qualifying govt procurement bodies to this list.

What procedures do people have to follow to get a license?
The new regulations set up two different procedures for obtaining specific licenses. First, there is an expedited licensing procedure for sales of specified bulk agricultural commodities listed in an appendix to the regulations. Licensees under this procedure will receive one license authorizing them to respond to requests for bids, to enter into binding contracts and to perform contracts. Licenses will not be limited to one contract or transaction, but rather will authorize sales of bulk agricultural commodities over a specified time period. Applicants will not have to identify their purchasers or other sales terms, such as price, in advance.
The licenses, however, will be subject to certain conditions. For example:
· all sales must be at prevailing market prices and only to approved purchasers, who must be fully identified in the contracts;
· payment terms must be consistent with the regulations; and
· any applicable license application requirements of another Federal agency must be satisfied.
Second, for sales of all other food items, medicines and medical equipt, the regulations provide a two-step licensing procedure that allows for case-by-case review of each contract.
The first step is a general license authorizing entry into executory contracts that make performance contingent upon the prior approval of the Office of Foreign Assets Control. The executory contracts will have to meet the similar criteria to those for bulk agricultural commodity sales contracts and, in addition, will have to disclose up front all parties with an interest in the sale and set forth all the terms of the sale. The second step in this licensing procedure is for the prospective seller to apply to OFAC for a specific license permitting performance of the executory contract. The applicant will have to submit the executory contract to OFAC, as well as any other information necessary to demonstrate that all applicable requirements have been met.
No contract performance is permitted until OFAC issues a specific license.

What types of payment terms and financing will be allowed for these sales?
Certain payment and financing terms for sales licensed under the new policy are authorized by a general license. The generally licensed payment and financing terms are limited to:
· cash in advance;
· sales on open account, with the proviso that the account receivable may not be transferred by the person extending the credit; or
· financing by third-country banks that are neither U.S. persons nor Iranian, Libyan or Sudanese govt entities.

U.S. banks may advise or confirm letters of credit issued by third-country banks.
In addition, OFAC will consider applications for specific licenses to authorize other terms for payment and financing where compliance with the overall sanctions regime would not be undermined. Payments for licensed sales, which must reference an appropriate OFAC license, may not involve a debit to a blocked account, or a debit or credit to an account of a person in Iran or of the Govt of Iran maintained on the books of a U.S. depository institution. In order to ensure that payments are not blocked or rejected, persons sending or receiving them should be certain that their transfer instructions reference the underlying OFAC license authorizing their transaction and ought to be prepared to show their bank a copy of their license.
There will be no U.S. Govt funding or financing in support of these sales.

Incidental transactions and brokering   The regulations also contain a general license authorizing, with some limitations, transactions ordinarily incident to a licensed transaction, such as shipping, insurance and payment of port fees. Since travel to Libya is currently prohibited, a separate section authorizes travel transactions to, from and within Libya for the sole purpose of negotiating contracts authorized by the general license for entry into executory contracts or by specific licenses for bulk agricultural commodity sales. U.S. passports must be validated by the Department of State for travel to Libya.

Finally, there is a provision in the new regulations authorizing U.S. persons, on certain conditions, to broker the sale by third parties of bulk agricultural commodities to approved buyers in Iran, Libya and Sudan. Where the underlying sale is by a U.S. person and must be specifically licensed, brokering is permitted by general license. Where the underlying sale is a third country sale and is not subject to OFAC licensing requirements, a U.S. person must apply for a specific license to broker the sale.

This document is explanatory only and does not have the force of law. Executive Order 13067 and implementing regulations and directives contain the legally binding provisions governing the sanctions against Sudan. This document does not supplement or modify Executive Order 13067 or implementing regulations and directives. The Office also administers sanctions programs involving Iraq, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montengro), North Korea, Cuba, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), the Taliban in Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Libya, Burma (Myanmar), designated Terrorists and Foreign Terrorist Organizations, international Narcotics Traffickers, and designated foreign persons who have engaged in activities related to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. For additional information about these programs or about the Sudanese Sanctions Regulations, please contact
OFFICE OF FOREIGN ASSETS CONTROL, U.S. Department of the Treasury
Washington, D.C. 20220 202/622-2520   http://www.treas.gov/ofac

…   Petroleum companies in the conflict for control of oil-rich Unity & W. Upper Nile regions of Sudan detailed in a recent report by Amnesty Intl of atrocities against the civilian population by govt troops, pro-govt militias & opposition rebels alike. Govt troops cleared Bentiu area 470mi. south of Khartoum using helicopter gunships & cluster bombs dropped from high altitude. "The civilian population living in the oil-fields & surrounding areas deliberately targeted for forced displacement, aerial bombardments, strafing villages from helicopter gunships, unlawful killing, torture, including rape & abduction," said Maina Kiai, AI Africa dir. Reports of mass executions of male civilians and of govt troops cutting throats of women and children, or nailing them to trees with iron spikes. Rebel forces of the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA) fighting civil war for last 17yrs are reported to have used summary executions, rape & destruction of homes to terrorize. SPLA and its political wing, the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement (SPLM), consist mainly of the Dinka tribe. 1990s reports of SPLA/M atrocities against non-Dinka ethnic groups. Former SPLA/M military officer Dr. Peter Nyaba described the organisation as having "degenerated into an agent of plunder, pillage & destructive conquest". Other methods of terror used by both sides against civilian population are destruction of harvests, looting of livestock & permanent military occupation. Ban on UN aid to the region imposed by Khartoum govt and moves by SPLA/M to control the activity of NGOs in the area forcing many to pull out has increased the risk of famine. Children forcibly recruited from Khartoum into govt's paramilitary Popular Defence Force, with most sent to front line to fight. Security firms linked to foreign oil companies in region are allegedly used in troop training of pro- govt militia, S. Sudan Defence Force (SSDF) and as military advisors. The SSDF is made up of a number of breakaway southern factions with ties to the SPLA/M, who signed 1997 peace deal with govt. It is characterised by in-fighting & leadership constantly shifting its loyalties. According to AI, "This raises further the question as to the extent to which involvement of the oil companies is directly or indirectly contributing to the conflict." The Khartoum government has admitted that oil sales are financing the war and AI points to clear connection between wealth generated by oil sales and purchase of Polish tanks and weapons from China & Bulgaria.
4.16.00 British Observer newspaper raised questions about oil companies' activity directly leading to human rights violations near the Helig oilfields, north of the Bentiu region, and escalating fighting between rival groups for control of the region. Eyewitness accounts of SPLA/M involvement in villages being razed and men, women & children being tortured to death. New Sudan Council of Churches (NSCC) official said, "The govt is using the roads and airstrips of the multinational companies engaged in the production of oil in Sudan for military purposes."
Observer report focuses on Greater Nile Oil Consortium oil operations, made up of Canada's Talisman Inc, the China National Petroleum Corporation, Petronas of Malaysia, Sudapet of Sudan and the Anglo-American company BP Amoco, which has project's largest share at 40%37;. These reports concentrate on extreme brutality of Sudanese govt and SPLA forces but growing Western govts' interest since Aug. 1999 opening of Sudan's oil pipeline encouraged increased repression. U.S. previously supported SPLA rebels, but sections of Clinton administration now see rapprochement with Khartoum govt as more likely to secure regional interests. 8.29.99, the day before Sudan's first oil shipment was exported, Harry Johnston appted US special envoy to Sudan followed in Sept. by lifting of several sanctions against Sudan by IMF. March 2000 Johnston travelled to Khartoum and described visit as "very productive, very educational". April 20, Donald Teitelbaum returned to his post as US chargé d'affaires in Khartoum. 2 years ago he was recalled when the US bombed a pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum, based on an unsubstantiated claim that it was being used for manufacturing chemical weapons for terrorists.

Articles on www.stratfor.com, which analyses American foreign policy, pointed to this change in the geopolitical strategy of US in region. Sept. 1999 article states, "the area of s. Sudan between other major African conflicts is oil country. Increased US support for the govt and decreased support for the rebels portend a stabilisation of oil exports. At the other end of the pipeline, it gives the US greater strategic influence over Red Sea shipping lanes. Since Somalia debacle, US littoral influence in the Red Sea has been strategic weak spot." Port Sudan is the only outlet to the Red Sea for exporting oil from the country. It is located in the north of Sudan, controlled by Al-Bashir govt in Khartoum. Policy of Sudan as pariah state began in 1991 when Sudan supported Iraq in the Gulf War. Commission for Intl Religious Freedom, set up in the US in 1998 to "monitor religious freedoms around the world," recently called on Washington to supply "non-lethal aid" to opposition forces, sooner rather than later, if the Khartoum government did not improve its record on religious freedom and human rights. Organisation has also called for the implementation of "no- fly" zones and the banning of any capital being raised by foreign firms in the US market for use in Sudan's oilfields. U.S. law passed Nov. 1999 allowing direct food aid to be given to the SPLA. Sudan remains on the United States list of states that support "terrorism".
Jan. 2000, Ruling National Congress Party (formerly National Islamic Front) Al-Bashir moved against his govt ally, Hassan al-Turabi, parliamentary speaker & main Islamic ideologue. This sent message to Western powers that Khartoum was breaking with isolationist policies personified by Turabi, who was sidelined, and Al-Bashir began to speak of the need for "more democracy".. The main focus is the government's drive to create the best conditions for the extraction and export of oil. Opposition coalition National Democratic Alliance (NDA) made up of Muslim Umma Party, Democratic Unionist Parties, Sudan Communist Party and other organizations was founded 1989 and brings together parties from northern & southern opposition forces. The SPLA/M is also a part of the NDA. Its policy is for a secular state and control of the south. March 2000 main opposition Umma Party, which was overthrown in a coup by Al-Bashir's National Islamic Front in 1989, walked out of an NDA meeting and was said to be "throwing in the towel". The leaders of Umma are now moving away from their previous strategy of opposition to the Al-Bashir regime and are hoping for place in his govt and a portion of its new-found wealth.

Blasting at quarry Jebel Haq Issa, El Obeid Al-Bashir govt is fighting 2 civil wars in southern region against the SPLA/M and in East-Central Sudan against the NDA. It is possible that Al-Bashir may move to grant limited autonomy to the NDA and SPLA/M to control the areas where they are active. Both groups have attacked the 1000mi. oil pipeline that runs from Helig & Unity oilfields to Port Sudan. , Umma Party,Ahmed Hassan said "exports of oil are vulnerable and can be protected only by a political agreement among parties." Al-Bashir was successful in re-establishing diplomatic relations with Uganda, Ethiopia and Eritrea; all had US support through the "Front Line States Initiative" that worked for destabilisation of the Islamic regime in Khartoum, backing the SPLA/M. Relations with Egypt have also improved, with Al-Bashir travelling there in April to meet the Egyptian foreign minister. The two countries broke off diplomatic ties in 1995, when Egypt accused Sudan of involvement in the attempted assassination of President Mubarak. The NDA and SPLA/M both have offices in Egypt, and Egypt is the principal backer of the Umma Party. The Khartoum government has also improved diplomatic relations with the Gulf states, who broke off ties with Sudan due to its support for Iraq during the Gulf war. It has recently set up a deal that allows a United Arab Emirates mining firm to prospect for gold and copper in Darfur state, an area rich in minerals.
Conflicts in Sudan today stretch back to when Britain was colonial power in the region, between 1899 and 1956. London signed agreement with Egypt in 1899, granting it rule over Sudan but under joint authority with Britain. The British pursued a conscious policy of keeping the north and the south of Sudan divided. It operated a "closed door" approach towards the mainly Christian south to stop the spread of Islam, which it viewed as a possible factor that could unite the different peoples. Economic development of Sudan's north & and east but the south remained isolated & economically backward. Britain hoped at this stage to integrate s. Sudan into what was then known as British East Africa, and is now Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya. Sudan granted independence in 1956, but economic, religious & cultural divisions cultivated by British colonialism had already exploded into a civil war a year earlier that was to last until 1972. In 1983 a second civil war started, based on the same divisions as before, and has cost the lives of up to 1.5 million people.

BP Amoco   2.16.01 "reports record performance" FY2000
Talisman Oil

Africa Subcommittee have & have not: Ajiep: Therapeutic feeding centre Permanent Rep. of Republic of the Sudan to U.N. 212.573.6033 .6035 .6038 .6039 f .6160
655 Third Ave ste 500-510 NY NY 10017
mission Geneva
IRIN Coord. Hum.Affairs office
OMCT
HRts Watch country reports
Intl Rescue Committee
U.S. Institute of Peace Library

Federation of American Scientists re Sudan 1 2
Ctr for Muslim-Christian Understanding (John Voll) African Studies, Georgetown Univ.

Post-Settlement Middle East & the Future of Egyptian-American Relations
1.28.01   Mamoun Fandy Georgetown Univ. Thanks to Chairwoman Ileana Ros Lehtinen & the Africa Subcommittee Ed Royce & Donald Payne for calling this important hearing. I am happy to see that the theme for today's hearing on the Sudan is "America's Sudan Policy: A New Direction."
Why? Because a number of UN Special Rapportuers, HRts Watch, Amnesty Intl & numerous other organizations and news reporters have all confirmed that during Sudan's bloody 18 year civil war, massive human rights violations have occurred against the Sudanese civilian population. And that at the heart of the suffering is oil from the oil rich southern regions of Sudan which is being pumped out of Sudan through of the Port of Khartoum for consumption by the west. Sudan, is not a new crisis. It has been with us for years and the U.S. & western nations have been negligent with respect to ending this crisis for almost 2 decades by formulating weak and impotent policies, one after the other. The war in Sudan is as brutal today as it ever was. The civilian populations living on or near oil fields and the NGO's that courageously support them have for years been targeted by both the Govt of Sudan armed forces and various opposition rebel groups. Clear evidence now exists of massive forced displacements, enslavement, aerial bombardments, low level strafing of villages, hospitals, schools & churches from helicopter gunships armed with heavy machine guns, and thousands upon thousands of individual acts of murder, torture & rape. The violence against women has been particularly brutal and includes allegations that women have been raped and their infants nailed to trees with iron spikes.

And all the while western oil companies continue to operate within the human rights disaster that we call Sudan and pump their precious black gold. We in the west might as well be filling our gas tanks with blood from the hundreds of thousands of poor souls who have lost their lives in the Sudan. Perhaps Mark Curtis of the organization Christian Aid put it best in a recent issue of the British-based Guardian in an article " Boom time for few signals misery & and death for many." Amnesty Intl reported that a shipment of Polish battle tanks arrived in Sudan on the day the first export of oil left the Port of Khartoum. There is no doubt that Sudan's oil shipments are being re-invested in their ongoing war in the south. It is as if we really don't want the warring to end and that we are deliberately unwilling to fashion a policy that really will produce the stated desired results.
For example, we all know that the United States has placed certain trade restrictions on Sudan. Yet gum arabic is exempted and it is the number one export of Sudan. Coca Cola and the other major soft drink conglomerates need gum arabic. So, what do we do? We proudly proclaim that we've got sanctions on Sudan, but we exempt gum arabic. Worse still we allow Talisman Energy, a corporation from Calgary which has a number of US citizens in high level leadership positions, to be listed on the NY Stock Exchange. And there we allow them to raise vast amounts of capital from U.S. Fund Groups & individual investors in order that those funds can then be immediately used in their operations in Sudan, such as the building of roads, airstrips and other facilities on the oil fields.

Let me tell you why permitting Talisman Energy or any other corporation for that matter to raise funds in the US for use in their Sudan operations is bad. The Canadian Special Envoy John Harker and his investigations team confirmed that during 1999, Talisman Energy was permitting the Govt of Sudan to arm, refuel and then fly helicopter gunships and Antinov bombers from their Heglig airstrip. Those same helicopters then flew off and bombed & strafed nearby villages, schools, hospitals & churches. And to show the knowledge and complicity of Talisman Energy in the great crimes being committed by these aircraft John Harker reported disturbing evidence that these Sudanese aircraft mysteriously left the Heglig airstrip just before his team's arrival, and once he had completed his investigations and had left the airstrip, the Sudanese aircraft then magically re-appeared.
John Harker even reported on disturbing evidence that 14 Nuer men seeking work at the Heglig oil compound were taken inside the Talisman compound and there murdered by Sudanese troops. How can this type of atrocity occur right inside Talisman's own compound and yet nothing be said. When I hear reports that the Talisman Energy CEO Wayne Buckee and his corporation is committed to an intl Corporate Code of Conduct and ending violence in Sudan I can only laugh. The evidence that Talisman is complicit in the great crimes being committed in Sudan is irrefutable and has been reported on endlessly for years. Talisman's press statements defending their actions in Sudan are hollow and have now become a bright shining lie.

But Talisman is not alone in Sudan there are many others trading in the blood oil of Sudan : Lundin Oil (Sweden), Petronas (Malaysia), OMV-Sudan (Austria), Sudapet (Sudan), Agip (Italy), Elf-Aquitaine (France), Gulf Petroleum (Qatar), Total Fina (France), Royal Dutch Shell (Holland), National Iranian Gas Comp (Iran), China National Petroleum (China), Denim Pipeline Construction (Canada), Weir Pumps & Allen Power Engineering (England), and Europipe (a consortium of European pipe building corporations) and pipe builder Mannesmann (Germany). All these major international corporations are trading in Sudan and generating billions of dollars of oil revenue. Many of them are among the world's most powerful and influential corporations in the oil industry. If they all acted together with the intl community & genuinely sought consensus to end the suffering in Sudan, then I am sure that much much more could be done to end the suffering in Sudan.
Either we, the U.S. Congress & the Bush Administration, are serious about Sudan's suffering or we are not. How much longer will we allow it to go on. How much more time will we continue to grant major international corporations to actively trade here in the United States and take those funds into Sudan and in so doing worsen the human rights situation for millions of innocent Sudanese people. When will we demand accountability from these corporations? When will we demand and end to their complicity to the slaughter in Sudan? Does Africa exist for the Bush Administration? Where does human rights fit in the foreign policy of the Bush Administration? Where are the State Department representatives today? I fear that because Sudan is so big and bountiful, that it will suffer the same fate as the Dem. Republic of Congo in that it will continue to be preyed upon by outside forces and subjected to wars, fueled by foreign govts & other greedy outsiders, for their own purposes & their own gain.
I look forward to hearing from today's witnesses who I know really care about the people who are affected by this continuing saga of death, genocide & ineffective policy.

Barriers exist & are significant but also can be overcome, as I was reminded many years ago when I first heard the statement: "Ana maskiin wa inta kwayyis", or "I am wretched and you are nice". Street-hardened veterans of Cairo would fall into carefully developed mode of non-attention if they heard that statement and felt a hand on their arm. However, I reacted with positive enthusiasm the first time that I had the experience of feeling a small hand on my arm and hearing the sentence. I had just arrived in Alexandria, Egypt, and was standing in the dock area of the port after getting off the boat which had brought me to the MidEast for the first time. I was apprehensive because I had invested 2yrs in a masters degree pgm in MidEastern Studies but never been to the region. Then, I heard the voice and the sentence and I actually understood it.
… When Norman Daniel was British Council representative in Sudan in the early 1960s, he brought Arnold Toynbee to Khartoum. Toynbee was on a grand lecture tour of Africa; the scheduled talk was chosen by the British ambassador from a list sent in advance. It was relatively innocuous: "Africas Place in World History." However, Toynbee took the opportunity to remind northern Sudanese of their special obligations in the civil war. A few weeks later students were shot in demonstrations against military suppression of southern opposition to northern military rule; Toynbee told his audience it was "serious failure of Northern Sudanese to solve the problem of its relations with the Southerners with disastrous effects, not only for both parts of the Sudan but for the whole of Africa." Both northerners and southerners failed, and generations of Sudanese have paid the high price.
cf. Toynbee Papers at Bodleian Library Western Manuscripts Dept, Oxford; Toynbee's later account of the African trip as a whole in Between Niger & Nile Oxford Univ. Press 1965 London p37.

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