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Article: SUDAN: OIL FUELS INTERNAL UNREST.
- Article from:
- The Middle East
- Article date:
- October 1, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 IC Publications Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The stakes in Sudan's seemingly endless civil war, the longest-running such conflict in Africa, have been raised in recent months with a new offensive by rebel forces fighting the Khartoum government. The rebel forces' latest offensive was directed at Sudan's economic lifeline -- its nascent oil industry and reserves that have been estimated as high as three billion barrels.
Since oil began flowing from the government-controlled Heglig and Unity oilfields that lie uncomfortably close to the battlefields in the war-torn south, two years ago, the Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA), the main rebel force based in the south, has sought to disrupt Khartoum's most ...