"War raging" around southern oilfields

Serious military engagements are occurring between government of Sudan forces and the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) in western Upper Nile (or Unity/Wahdah State) and northern Bahr al-Ghazal, in the south of the country, according to humanitarian sources.

The government recently lost control of Koch and was coming back with significant reinforcements, who had been stationed to defend the oil area around Bentiu in order to retake it, one aid worker told IRIN on Thursday.

The SPLA on Thursday accused government forces of having bombarded villages in western Upper Nile, especially around Koch, Bieh and Rier, over the previous three days, in contravention of a recent undertaking it gave the USA on protecting civilians and civilian infrastructure in the course of the civil war.

In a statement released in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, the SPLA spokesman, Samson Kwaje, said the Sudanese army had meted out "unwarranted destruction" in western Upper Nile, where, he said, "the war is raging".

Kwaje said that intense fighting had resulted in a high number of casualties on both sides, the Associated Press agency (AP) reported. The SPLA statement said more details would be released soon.

The SPLA has said fighting in the area began in February when the government tried to force residents and the rebel movement from the area in order to secure it for oil production.

On Thursday, it deplored the alleged forcible displacement of the indigenous population from the villages of Wang Kai and Rier "to make these areas safe for the foreign multinational oil companies to operate".

The Swedish oil company Lundin has an oil concession in the area, but in January announced "a temporary suspension of seismic and drilling operations on Block 5A... as a precautionary measure to ensure maximum security for its personnel and operation".

This decision did not affect the company's long-term plans to develop the Thar Jath field and further explore the southern Muglad basin, and the company hoped a cease-fire agreement reached between the government and SPLA for the Nuba Mountains in January would be extended to all areas of Sudan and allow an early resumption of its activities in Block 5A.
[see http://www.lundin-petroleum.com]

The Greater Nile Oil Project, an international oil consortium which includes the Canadian company Talisman, is producing some 230,000 barrels of oil per day in the western Upper Nile field at Hajlij, near the town of Bentiu, less than 100 km north of the villages the SPLA accuses the government of bombing, AP reported on Thursday.

Talisman says it has extensive community development programmes and "believes its continued presence benefits all the people of Sudan".
[see http://www.talisman-energy.com/]

UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Sudan Gerhart Baum, international human rights groups and aid agencies have all voiced concern that the struggle to control oil-rich areas and revenues in southern Sudan is exacerbating the civil war.

The International Crisis Group (ICG) reported earlier this month that the recent escalation in fighting around Sudan's oilfields and increasing use of government helicopter gunships against military and civilian targets - as well as indecision surrounding the nature of international involvement in the peace process - were putting at risk "Sudan's best chance for peace" since 1983.

Although the US- and Swiss-brokered cease-fire in the Nuba Mountains region of Southern Kordofan, south-central Sudan, had alleviated the suffering of the Nuba people, it had allowed the warring parties to divert their forces to the oilfields in western Upper Nile, it added.

The rebels have called for a halt to oil production until peace can be achieved, and said that meanwhile oil operations are "a legitimate target", because they provide the Khartoum government with revenues with which to pursue the war.

The Sudanese government insists that the agreement to protect civilians and civilian targets in the war should render oilfields free from attack.

There is also serious fighting between government troops and the SPLA in northern Bahr al-Ghazal, especially around the government garrison town of Wau, aid workers told IRIN on Thursday. Wau is considered a major strategic target for the SPLA, but is very well fortified and would not easily be taken by the rebel force, according to observers.

State Minister at the Peace Advisory Dhiou Matok said Khartoum intended to deliver a complaint to the US - sponsor of the agreement on avoiding civilian targets - at the SPLA's alleged violation of the agreement by shelling Wau, the official Sudan News Agency (SUNA) reported last weekend.

The government has also accused the rebel movement and "some unscrupulous agencies" of violating the Nuba Mountains cease-fire agreement by entering restricted areas, specifically Miri, according to the Sudanese media.

The SPLA, in turn, has alleged government violations of the Nuba cease-fire, Kwaje saying on Thursday that Khartoum kept doing so "with impunity".