Lack of full oil data threatens Sudan peace: NGO
Tuesday, 8 September 2009
KHARTOUM, Sept 7 (AFP):A failure to provide full oil production figures in Sudan threatens a fragile north-south peace deal, the advocacy and investigative group Global Witness warned in a report Monday.
The London-based organisation said there were "serious questions" about the fair sharing of oil revenues-since oil is drilled in the south but controlled and sold only by former civil war enemies in the north.
An equal share of oil revenues was the cornerstone of the 2005 peace deal that ended the 22-year long civil war in Sudan, Africa's largest nation, in which at least 1.5 million people died.
"Unless the government of southern Sudan and Sudanese citizens can verify that the revenue sharing is fair, mistrust will grow and the peace agreement could be jeopardised," said Rosie Sharpe, who penned the report.
The London-based organisation said there were "serious questions" about the fair sharing of oil revenues-since oil is drilled in the south but controlled and sold only by former civil war enemies in the north.
An equal share of oil revenues was the cornerstone of the 2005 peace deal that ended the 22-year long civil war in Sudan, Africa's largest nation, in which at least 1.5 million people died.
"Unless the government of southern Sudan and Sudanese citizens can verify that the revenue sharing is fair, mistrust will grow and the peace agreement could be jeopardised," said Rosie Sharpe, who penned the report.