Sudan
U.S. interest is driven by U.S. oil firms eyeing Sudan's reserves and church groups and black politicians angry at alleged government atrocities.
Source: Reuters, June 1
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Talisman CEO Jim Buckee said Monday the company would raise up to 15 billion dollars its investment in Sudan when peace is reached.
Buckee said Sudanese Finance Minister Hamdi had told him that 50 percent of the oil proceeds are used for repaying Sudan's foreign debts and the remainder pays salaries of government employees and development projects.
Buckee, who on Sunday wound up a three-day visit to Sudan, said his company intends to remain operating in Sudan.
Talisman is presently planning for construction of a hospital in Bentieu, capital of the Unity State.
Source: AFP, June 4
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Sudan's economy registered healthy 8.3 percent growth last year. Inflation was almost steady at three percent in May.
"We have the most liberal investment laws among Arab and African countries", Sudanese Finance Minister Abdel Rahim Hamdi told reporters during an official visit to the United Arab Emirates on Sunday.
Source: Reuters, June 3
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Since taking power in January, the Bush administration has given a series of mixed messages about Sudan. On the one hand, the administration's rhetoric against Khartoum has been quite harsh, very much in line with the views of the Christian Right. Behind the scenes, however, the administration has taken few steps to back up its tough rhetoric. It has dragged its feet or ignored demands by activists to increase pressure on Khartoum and strengthen the SPLA.
Many activists were unpleasantly surprised when Powell, unlike his predecessor, Madeleine Albright, failed to meet SPLA chief John Garang in Nairobi last week.
Moreover, his remarks in the region were markedly conciliatory toward Khartoum. "We are not against any side," he stressed during a news conference. "We are anxious to see reconciliation in Sudan."
Word that Chester Crocker, currently the head of the quasi-governmental U.S. Institute for Peace, has been tapped as the new special envoy for Sudan is adding to concern within the activist community.
Crocker was Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs under President Ronald Reagan and responsible for Reagan's controversial "constructive engagement" policy toward South Africa and fought hard against tough U.S. economic sanctions against the apartheid regime.
Despite Crocker's loyalty to Reagan, he was also widely distrusted by the far right in Congress, both because he opposed U.S. aid to Renamo, the brutal Mozambican rebel group, and because of his role in negotiating the mutual withdrawal of Cuban and South African troops from Angola and Namibia, respectively.
Crocker reportedly has indicated that he may not be interested in the job unless he gains assurances that right-wing forces in the White House will not interfere with his work.
A published report of Crocker's selection by Powell cited "associates familiar with his thinking" as saying that Crocker opposed any aid to the SPLA at this time.
In February, Crocker chaired the formal launch of a highly controversial report endorsed by some 50 foreign policy experts under the umbrella of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
The document urged the new administration to upgrade ties with Khartoum and work closely with European countries, which have pursued a policy of engagement with Khartoum, in the interests of ending the war as soon as possible.
Among the members of the task force who approved the report were two former U.S. ambassadors to Khartoum who have publicly urged greater engagement with the NIF government.
Bush's new Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Walter Kansteiner, also served on the task force whose recommendations were strongly denounced as "appeasement" by Sudan activists, both from the Christian Right and the Congressional Black Caucus.
Source: IPS (Inter Press Service), June 1
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