http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/03/04/MNG4LOF4041.DTLSudan intensifies its search for oil in troubled Darfur
Questions raised about underlying reason for region's conflict
Edmund Sanders, Los Angeles Times
Sunday, March 4, 2007
(03-04) 04:00 PST Khartoum, Sudan -- The Sudanese government is quietly escalating oil exploration inside the Darfur region, a step that has led to protests from rebel leaders in a volatile area where more than 200,000 people have been killed during three years of fighting.
Political and humanitarian experts say oil in Darfur could deliver much-needed development and investment to the region, but that attempts to hunt for oil now might intensify fighting by raising the stakes in a war-torn area. The government recently has awarded three new oil concessions in the region.
Rebel leaders say oil exploration in Darfur should be postponed until a peace deal is signed by all parties and stability returns.
"We are still fighting for our lives and our country," said rebel commander Jar el-Neby, who represents the National Redemption Front, a breakaway faction of the Sudan Liberation Army. "We need water right now, not oil. We can talk about these issues after peace comes."
Some political analysts believe that untapped oil reserves might have been an underlying factor in the Darfur conflict all along, explaining why a seemingly barren wasteland of western Sudan would spark such a bitter tug-of-war between government forces and rebels, eventually drawing the intervention of international players such as the United States and the United Nations.
MORE
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
