An ecumenical delegation of Sudanese religious leaders met with U.N. officials and Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Oct. 11 to express its fear of what might happen if the Jan. 9 referendum in which south Sudan is expected to vote for independence from the north is not carried out as planned.
“We told him we came to raise an alarm to the United Nations,” said Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul of the Episcopal Church of Sudan during a press conference held at the Church Center for the United Nations, following a day of U.N. meetings.
“We are the church, we are in the ground. We are with the people. And we are knowing every thing that is happening in the ground there. So because of that we are here,” Deng said.
The first pipeline was completed in 1999. As a result of the oil profits, what used to be two rag-tag armies fighting a bush war became an asymmetric war, with one side having sophisticated armed support. The North is adept at nurturing proxies in the South and portraying it as inter-tribal conflicts.
China is the main export destination of Sudanese oil. China has obstructed US and European efforts to impose UN economic sanctions and arms embargo on Sudan because of crimes against humanity in Darfur. In 2005 China’s arm sales to Sudan were worth $83 million.
A menu of prayers I compiled for the last Sudan election may be found [url=http://anglicanprayer.wordpress.com/2009/09/06/sudan-menu/]here[/url] and a brief history [url=http://anglicanprayer.wordpress.com/2008/09/10/sudan-3/]here[/url].