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| East/Subsaharan Africa |
| Sudan rebels say oil exploration behind govt assault |
| 2003-01-05 |
| The southern rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) accused Friday the government of trying to capture an oil-rich region in order to allow Austrian, Chinese, Malaysian and Swedish companies to go ahead with exploration plans. "The army wants to drive the SPLA and the civilians out to allow companies to explore for oil," SPLA spokesman Yasser Arman told AFP by telephone from Eritrea. "It's all about oil..." The Sudanese government denied Thursday that its forces were attacking in the oil-rich regions in the south. "Nope. Wudn't us." But Arman said Khartoum's troops were trying to drive the rebels out of two exploration zones, Block 4 and Block 5A, currently controlled by both sides. Block 4 cover parts of Kordofan, Unity, and Bahr el-Ghazal states, and Block 5A lies primarily in Unity State and northern Bahr el-Ghazal. He charged President Omar al-Beshir's government was violating a truce which was signed on October 15 and extended in November until March 31. Violate a truce? In Sudan? Pshaw! |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #1 Those nasty Swedish Imperialists!`Scuse me,I got to page John Pilger... |
| Posted by: El Id 2003-01-05 16:12:17 |