Tuesday, June 19, 2001 Rebels declare open season on oil firms Cairo: The Sudanese rebel leader, Colonel John Garang, has warned that foreign oil firms in Sudan are "legitimate targets" for attack and vowed that his forces will one day seize the oil fields. "We hold the [Sudanese] Government responsible for losses that could be suffered by workers and companies operating in the oil fields," Colonel Garang, leader of the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), told the newspaper Al-Hayat at the weekend. "These companies are threatening us by continuing to drill for oil. We will pursue our resistance, and we consider them as legitimate targets." The SPLA says Khartoum uses oil revenues to wage the war against the southern separatists. The Government has been exporting oil since the end of August 1999 with the help of Chinese, Malaysian, Canadian, Swedish and other companies. Colonel Garang, who was speaking in the Eritrean capital, Asmara, amid SPLA advances towards the oil regions, also reiterated that Khartoum must suspend oil operations as a condition for a ceasefire. The Government and the SPLA agreed to negotiate a ceasefire during a regional summit in Nairobi on June 2, but the SPLA asked the Government to suspend its oil operations. Colonel Garang, asked if he had plans to capture the oil regions, replied: "We will take control of all the oil fields. I cannot tell you exactly when. But we are going to expel them [government troops]." President Omar al-Beshir vowed 12 days ago "never to relinquish the oil fields" as he mobilised pro-government militiamen to help the army drive back a rebel offensive in the south. Agence France-Presse The New York Times, June 14, 2001 "The House Votes Strongly in Favor of Putting Pressure on Sudan" By MARC LACEY WASHINGTON, June 13---The House expressed outrage today at Sudan's government for its involvement in human rights abuses by voting to bar foreign oil companies that do business there from raising capital in the United States or listing their securities in American financial markets. Lawmakers voted 422 to 2 for a series of measures aimed at pressuring the Sudanese government to seek an end to hostilities that stretch back 18 years and have killed two million people as well as resulting in reports of slavery, the conscription of children and bombings of civilian areas. American companies are already barred from doing business in Sudan under United States sanctions imposed on Khartoum. Rebels in Sudan's mostly Christian and animist south say that oil revenues are used to finance the war effort of the Muslim-dominated government, and international aid groups maintain that the oil companies working in Sudan are abetting government human rights violations. "We should not help foreign oil companies who are helping prolong this bloody slaughter," said Representative Tom Lantos, Democrat of California. He called it "shameful" that foreign oil companies could raise money in the United States and use it to back what he considers genocide. The foreign oil companies operating in Sudan include China National Petroleum Corporation of China, Gulf Petroleum Corporation of Qatar, Lundin Oil Corporation of Sweden, Petroliam Nasional Berhad of Malaysia, TotalFinaElf of France and Talisman Energy Corporation of Canada. The House action would force the companies off the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. Several company representatives said they had been expecting a less stringent measure from the House that would require them to report on their activities in Sudan as a condition of participating in American markets. That measure was indeed approved, but so was an amendment introduced by Representative Spencer Bachus, a Republican from Alabama, forbidding the companies from any involvement in American financial markets if they continue oil and gas operations in Sudan. David Mann, a spokesman for Talisman Energy, said his lawyers' reading of the legislation was that it applied to companies actually operating in Sudan and not parent corporations like Talisman. Talisman owns a Dutch subsidiary, which owns a share of Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company, which operates oil fields in Sudan. But supporters of the legislation said they intended the measure to apply to companies like Talisman. Mr. Mann argued that his company is pushing for positive change in Sudan and might be replaced by less helpful interests if it pulled out. "Talisman leaving does not stop oil production in Sudan," he said. "We play a role in trying to improve the situation there. We're building clinics and hospitals. Tens of thousands of southern Sudanese have benefited from clean drinking water, education and medicine directly because of Talisman being there." During a visit to Africa in late May, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell pledged to seek an end to the conflict. The House bill requires Secretary Powell to submit an annual report that notes whether relief aid has been manipulated by the government, the extent of aerial bombardments by the government, and the status of Sudan's construction of oil pipelines