Sudan’s conflicts driven by resources, official says
April 18, 2012 (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. FILE - Sudan’s presidential adviser Ghazi Salah Al-Din Al-Atabani 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’. (ST) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/SouthSudanKob?hl=en.
