UN envoy urges quick decisions on status of oil-rich regions in central Sudan

Aug 8 AFP report via Gulf Times:

UN special envoy for Sudan Jan Pronk said quick decisions were needed on the status of several oil-rich regions in central Sudan claimed by both Khartoum and the SPLM where militia activity continues despite the accord.

"The problem is not in the north or south of Sudan," Pronk told reporters after meeting Salva Kiir, Garang's successor as head of the SPLM. The problem is on the fringes of central Sudan.

"There are groups, armed groups, that have become agitated, people are afraid of each other in Abyei," he said, referring to one of three disputed oil-rich zones that were left out of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed in Kenya.

"They need political discussions," Pronk said.

Full Story.
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UPDATE - AP report Aug 7 excerpt - with thanks to Coalition for Darfur and Passion of the Present:

"Pronk pressed the government and SPLM to form commissions to guide and monitor the implementation of key aspects of the peace accord.

"When these institutions are not there, you cannot easily go forward because the SPLM works separately, the government works separately and the United Nations (works separately). So we have to do it together," Pronk said.

He said he urged Kiir on Sunday to resolve differences with pro-government militia in the south which are not part of the SPLM.

"There are groups which have become quite agitated of late," Pronk said. He declined to say more about them, but NGO workers have told The Associated Press that some pro-government militiamen have recently kidnapped women and children, holding them as bargaining chips.

The NGO workers spoke on condition of anonymity as they feared straining their relations with the Sudanese government.

The peace provides for the militiamen to be integrated either into the national army or into a new army of southern Sudan, which will be dominated by their former enemy, the Sudan People's Liberation Army."

See full report at Sudan Tribune
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Click here to see map showing the current concessions of oil exploration and production activities in Sudan.

If any reader here at Sudan Watch has snippets of news relating to what is happening these days with oil companies in Sudan or any conflict in or around Blocks 6 or C, please email for future pieces on oil and Darfur. Thanks.



Photo: The new leader of southern Sudan Salva Kiir (L) greets the UN special envoy to Sudan Jan Pronk in a private residence in the southern town of Juba, a day after former rebel leader John Garang was buried in an emotional ceremony that was attended by tens of thousands. (AFP/Simon Maina) August 7, 2005
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London suspects have ties to East Africa

Aug 8 AP Nairobi report says experts suggest terror strengths may be growing in East Africa. Excerpt:

At least three of the four suspects in the July 21 attempted bombings on the London subway and a bus were born in East Africa, where al-Qaida-linked groups still operate and may be growing in strength, according to a new assessment by counterterrorism experts.

The attackers, at least two of them naturalized British citizens, were born in Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea and there is no evidence they have been back there recently. But East Africa has several indigenous terror groups and has suffered three al-Qaida attacks since 1998.

Note, the report says "Osama bin Laden moved to East Africa in 1991 at the invitation of Hassan al-Turabi, an Islamic fundamentalist once considered the spiritual, if not de facto, leader of Sudan. Bin Laden brought with him Afghan war veterans, millions of dollars and plans to start al-Qaida."
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Hassan al-Turabi



Following on from the above, here is a photo and caption from a previous post at Sudan Watch: July 17, 2005 AP - Hassan Turabi, the Islamist leader recently freed from a year and a half of house arrest for allegedly plotting a coup, told the Associated Press in Khartoum, Sunday, July 17, 2005 that he wants to bring free democracy to Sudan. He criticized the new constitution and said he wants closer relations with the U.S. (AP Photo/Abd Raouf)

Click here for Sudan Watch posts on Turabi.

Tags: Sudan Darfur oil Pronk Abyei Garang John Garang Gulf Times rebels Central Sudan