SPLA leader threatens oil production

The leader of the Sudan People's Liberation Army, John Garang, said the Sudan government was "in crisis" after a three month offensive against rebels in the south and part of the north had failed. In an interview with the BBC by satellite telephone from southern Sudan, Garang said new SPLA victories in the Blue Nile region threatened oil production. He said it was "not necessary" to overrun the oil fields but that the SPLA would stop production - "as we did with Chevron and Total in 1983". Oil production in Sudan was "an act of aggression", as it was being used by the government to finance the war, and pay for "missiles and weapons", he said. Garang also said in the interview the government had launched a major offensive over the last three months, which included "bombing all over the south". The offensive was launched because the Sudan government believed the SPLA was being supported by Ethiopia and Eritrea, and so took advantage of the outbreak of conflict between those two countries in May. Garang denied receiving support from Ethiopia and Eritrea. He said the SPLA had six fronts, three in the south and three in the north, including an alliance with the northern opposition movement, the National Democratic Alliance, which operates in eastern Sudan, near the Eritrea border.

Garang said the SPLA would continue fighting for "complete transformation of the Sudan state so that it belongs to all the Sudanese people". He said the Sudan government was in crisis, which had led to the dismissal of two key ministers and prevented President Omar el-Bashir travelling to the OAU summit in Togo.