NGOs clarify position in Sudan’s Unity state

In response to statements made by the Canadian based Talisman Energy Corporation concerning its relations with NGOs working in the oilfields of Sudan’s Unity State and in Khartoum, Gary Kenny, coordinator for the Inter-Church on Africa, on behalf of the NGOs working in the area, issued a clarification for what it termed “misleading public inferences that these NGOs are working together with the company in Unity State”.

The statement said, given the controversial nature of oil development in Sudan, the NGOs wanted to clearly state that “in the provision of humanitarian assistance to the vulnerable populations in Unity State, there is no relationship between these NGOs and any of the companies involved in the oil industry in Sudan.” The statement went on to read “We strongly object to Talisman Energy’s allegations that they are working together as a team with the international humanitarian community. Talisman’s public statements infer a relationship that does not exist in Unity State.”

Meanwhile, the Canadian newspaper, “Globe and Mail”, reported on Monday that Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy was being criticised for “failing to crack down on Talisman Energy Inc of Calgary”. The company helps run an oil project that human-rights groups say is funding atrocities committed by the Sudanese government in a war against its own separatist rebels, the report said.