For the oil industry, the news from Sudan is anything but good. Indeed, while using the Darfur problem to keep his grip on the country’s oil-rich south, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir blames the US, the UK, and France for his problems.
“What we suffer here and in Darfur in particular and the problems in Sudan in general are caused by these three powers: Britain, France, and the United States,” al-Bashir said in an interview with Britain’s Guardian newspaper.
That’s more than a bit ironic since the US Department of Justice at the moment is applying Bush administration pressure on Congress to reject legislation designed to slash US and foreign investment in Sudan due to the Darfur violence.
The law would punish US or foreign entities for investing in Sudan as long as militias aligned with al-Bashir’s government wage a terror campaign in the Darfur region.
Bush objections
The Bush administration objects to the bill because it wants to ensure that state and local governments do not engage in divestment activity that, “however well-intentioned, would jeopardize United States foreign policy on Sudan and potentially other issues.”
People who want the law to be passed point to the promises made to southern Sudan which have yet to be kept.
An example of that took place last week, when a senior government official said the Sudanese army has until Dec. 15 to pull out from the oil-rich, semiautonomous south after failing to meet an initial July deadline.
According to some reports, the new deadline came amid a crisis sparked by the withdrawal of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement from the unity government after it accused al-Bashir’s government of failing to implement a 2005 peace deal.
Grip on oil
Sudan’s Ceasefire Political Committee, charged with overseeing the pullout of troops under the 2005 agreement, last week gave the Sudanese army up to Dec. 15 to withdraw from the southern region.
“And the [Southern People’s Liberation Army] has the same deadline to redeploy from southern Kordofan,” said Major General Elias Waya, a top SPLA commander in the committee.
Although the peace deal directed both sides to redeploy from the other’s territories, the Sudanese army—citing fears of insecurity posed by the Darfur conflict—has vowed to remain in the oil fields.
That’s a wonderfully convenient solution for the Khartoum regime, especially when al-Bashir can also blame the US, UK, and France for the insecurity in Darfur.
Meanwhile, negotiations between the Sudanese government and the Darfur rebels have been postponed until December—a convenient date that coincides with the government’s plan to hold on to the south’s oil. Qui bono? Al-Bashir & Co., that’s who.
