Sudan: Nation's Conflicts Driven By Resources, Official Says
19 April 2012
Sudan's president Omar al-Bashir says he wants to overthrow the government
of South Sudan. Fierce fighting is continuing in Heglig after South ... (
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http://allafrica.com/view/resource/main/main/id/00031396.html>
Sudan and South Sudan Launch War of Words
Khartoum - A prominent Sudanese official has opined that the ongoing
conflicts in his country are essentially a war over resources, urging
increased production to confront them.
Speaking at a symposium held Wednesday in the Sudanese capital Khartoum
under the title "Sudan after separation: challenges and chances", Ghazi
Salah al-Din Al-Atabani, an adviser to President Omer Al-Bashir, said that
more production is needed to confront ongoing conflicts in the country.
According to Sudan's official news agency SUNA, Al-Atabani urged efforts to
achieve social justice in order to "obviate the pretext of marginalization"
used by some.
He further warned that Sudan is facing political, economic and security
challenges, citing the example of the war in the regions of South Kordofan
and Blue Nile which he attributed to unimplemented provisions of the 2005
Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between Sudan and South Sudan.
The presidential assistant called for prioritizing economic issues as they
affect national security. He also emphasized the importance of creating
internal consensus on existing challenges represented in the upcoming
constitution and issues of national identity.
Sudanese officials generally tend to deny or ignore the widely-cited opinion
that the concentration of wealth and power in the center as opposed to the
marginalized peripheries is to blame for the country's chronic conflicts.
Analysts say that oil resources are a huge driver of the ongoing war between
Sudan and South Sudan over Heglig and other border areas.
This year, the newly independent state of South Sudan shut down its oil
production that can be exported only through pipelines in the north. The two
neighbors failed to agree on oil transit fees to be paid to Khartoum
prompting the latter to confiscate part of the crude as 'payment in kind'.
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Received on Thu Apr 19 2012 - 16:40:22 EDT
