Sudan’s oil sector impasse
22 August 2011
Nobody’s a winner as deadlock between north and south over oil-revenue sharing and pipeline access, and onerous sanctions leave Sudanese oil production in limbo, writes Anthea Pitt
THE US says it will not remove Sudan from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, dashing the Khartoum government’s hopes, following a six-month US monitoring and inspection programme in the country. Officials in Khartoum – including foreign minister, Ali Karti – had been quietly confident Sudan would be struck from the list.
Last year, the US pledged to de-list Sudan by mid-2011 in return for government co-operation with January’s southern independence referendum. South Sudan seceded from Sudan on 9 July (PE 8/11 p9).
Voicing the frustrations of many within the government, Ibrahim Ghandour, a senior member of Omar al-Bashir’s ruling National Congress Party, said: "There is a general view in Sudan that the US is not up to its commitments and is just buying time to put pressure on the government. Many politicians here feel regime change is still at the forefront of the...