02:00

Civil war and Islamic fundamentalism aren’t normally reasons to throw a party and dance.  Nor are alcohol prohibition and gender segregation.  Yet, music fills the streets of Khartoum, the capital of contradictions and conflicts.  A new bridge across the Nile is being opened, an excellent opportunity to celebrate.

Everybody is waiting for the most important guest, the man who now and then honors his subjects with his presence.  A highly controversial ruler on the Dark Continent.

02:48

President Omar Bashir seized power in Sudan in 1989, and since then he has ruled the country in close alliance with powerful religious forces.

03:03

He inherited a civil war from the government he overthrew, and he still hasn’t managed to demonstrate that he can control all of Sudan.  His country is divided, abjectly poor, war-torn, and diplomatically isolated.  Western experts all agree that Sudan is one of Africa’s most brutal dictatorships.

03:21

Ghazi Salah ed Din,

Minister of Informatiom

Well, thats the wrong perspective. It´s not a dictatorship, we are a constitutional democracy. The democratic practise which you find in this country, in terms of basic liberties, freedom of the press, parties, multipartyism, you dont find anywhere else in the region.

03:44

Ghazi Suleiman is a lawyer and one of the most outspoken critics of the government in the country.

03:51

Ghazi Suleiman,

lawyer

There is no political freedom here. We are under a ruthless dictatorship. What I am doing everyday here, this meeting of ours it is against the law, and this office could be attacked in a minute!

04:11

The capital, Khartoum—hot and dusty, an Arab metropolis of questionable repute.

 A refuge for international terrorists, says the American CIA.  A cultural and intellectual center in Africa, others say.

 Slowly a modern sector is emerging, in a typical Third-world manner.  Enclaves of luxury and glamour for those with money and a taste for Western goods.

04:43

Michael Manno,

Shop-owner

- You know, many people in other countries they are afraid to come Sudan, I dont know why, Sudan is an open country. So you know, we worked with State Petroleum before four years, and we make good business for two years, and now actually, the Chinese came in Sudan...

- Do you have many Chinese customers?

- Yes, and Canadian...

- Mostly foreigners come to your shop?

- Yes.

05:13

The newly prospected oil in the disputed southern Sudan is beginning to stand out as the engine that is driving the nation’s economy.  But not without complications.

05:27

Ghazi Salah Ed Din,

Minister of Information

- We have only started developing our oil resources last year, we should not expect the results to show as yet, but we expect them to show in the coming two years or so.

- But some critics say that the oil money will probably be used for buying more arms, more weapons?

- Well, they have to prove it, they only have their word for it. What we intend to do, what we say and what we can prove is that we intend to use our oil revenues in order to develop the south, in order to develop the country at large, in order to uproot the causes for the problem.

06:08

Ghazi Suleiman,

Lawyer

I havent seen this oil money, I havent seen it. You see, there is no way for any country to develop without transparency, and transparency it means for me democracy, and democracy means for me to respect the declaration... the universal declaration of human rights. I want you to give me one example in the world, in which there is development with a dictatorship.

06:43

In Khartoum monuments to the new oil wealth are cropping up.  Foreigners with money in their pockets and an unfazed view of the country’s problems are making their appearance.

06:57

Abdul Nasser,

Hotel manager

- I´ve been here for four months and I can say ”Hamdullah”, I like it very much!

- You dont worry about the war?

- No, its nothing to worry (about), its very safe here in Sudan. You dont even feel there is such a thing as a war in Sudan. You can walk freely at night, there is no robbery, you feel practically safe here.

07:26

Forty-five miles north of Khartoum a monster of sheet metal is taking shape in the Nubian Desert.  In record time, a Chinese company has built a refinery to process a major proportion of Sudan’s black gold.  The country is to be self-sufficient in fuel and, what’s more, is to be able to export crude oil.  But the pipeline from the wells in southern Sudan has already been sabotaged by rebels.

07:55

Yussuf Ali,

Engineer

Yeah, the pipeline can be repaired, actually its normal to be attacked by the rebels. The time for repairing the pipeline will not take long time, and this will not be a problem for Sudan. We are going to fight against them.

08:12

Can oil bring peace to the country?  Or is the war escalating?  That is the crucial issue.

08:38

The SPLA guerilla is under greater and greater pressure.  The oil deposits in the war-ravaged south have caused much divisiveness; many low-level officers are creating free-wheeling militia groups in hope of tapping into the new-found wealth.  In order to fill its ranks, the SPLA often recruits youths, and the government sometimes conscripts children by force.

09:09

Abdul Aziz Kafi,

Child soldier

We were in school, in the third grade.  On the way to school we were arrested by the security police.  They took us away in a car; they took 14 people to Al Gitaina training camp .  We stayed in Al Gitaina for a month and a half.  Then we were taken to the city; we stayed there for two weeks, then we were taken away.  First we were taken to one area, then to another, and then to a training camp.  Then we were taken to the war zone.  We were attacked there by the people’s army (SPLA).

10:18

In the guerilla-controlled Nuba Mountains, there is but a single hospital.  It is run by a German aid organization.  The young doctors are putting their lives on the line.

10:36

Reporter:

Tina Wolf,

Physician

- But you are not really allowed to be here at all, are you?

- No we are not allowed to be here at all. But I think... also Khartoum they know that we are here, but untill now exept last year about Christmas time when we had to move, we are working and I think we are not officially allowed, but they know, they know that we are here.

- But they have tried to bomb you out, havent they?

- Yeah in Kouda last year, I was not here at this moment, but in November last year there was a lot of bombing. But I think we are not the only target, there was quite a big area in Kouda where there are living a lot of people, so our hospital was maybe only a sideeffect but not the real target.

11:23

Southern Sudan used to be as close to the heart of Africa as you could get.  Today foreign influences are clearly in evidence.  Roaring machines pierce the ground; prospecting will show where the oil is.  Then it’s just a matter of bringing it up.

11:44

For many Sudanese this is an opportunity they have been waiting for all their lives; now there are jobs for those resourceful enough to carve out a living.  But not everybody is so enthusiastic about the oil industry; there are obstacles, not all of them geological.

11:59

Ghazi Suleiman,

Lawyer

If the oil business will continue, without establishing the democratic state, it will be against the interest of the sudanese people. Because it will be used... the funds will be used to finance the war. I am against, I am against any investment in the oil without a transparent and a democratic government in Sudan. My advice for any foreign company, if they will continue investment in the Sudan, without observing human rights, without observing the struggle in the Sudan for establishing a democratic state, they are part and parcel of the dictatorship.

We are in Rubkona, a village in southern Sudan.  A VIP from Khartoum is coming to visit, Sudan’s oil minister is honoring the village with his presence. The Swedish petroleum company Lundin Oil is going to open a new road; everyone understands that the projected road and bridge across the Nile will have a major impact on everybody living here.  The infrastructure the oil companies build up can be put to many uses.  Ian Lundin, CEO of Lundin Oil, is on the plane too.

13:32

The festivities may commence.

13:54

This is Nuerland.  The Nuer people are one of the largest tribes in southern Sudan and have made their living by raising cattle.  To sacrifice an ox is the greatest honor anyone can pay to a guest.

Lundin Oil is investing 300 million US Dollars in its oil venture here in southern Sudan, and that money is expected to be more than returned to the company.  Of course, it is a high-risk project, with a great deal at stake.  The war is escalating in the oil districts; the foreign companies are now under the protection of militia groups, some of whose soldiers are children.

14:54

Natsot:

Ian Lundin,

CEO Lundin Oil

Its a great honour and pleasure to be working in this great country of the Sudan. We look forward to participate in the economic growth of this country and to benefit... to the benefit of all the people. We look forward with great anticipation to start our exploration for oil, and we hope to be soon producing and participating in a big way in your economic health. We come in peace and we thank you from the bottom of our heart for your warm welcome.

16:03

Natsot:

Oil workers

- We want you to have sufficient for your needs here. We will actually lay on a special helicopter to Heglig. If you want, we will actually provide whatever you need.

- Thank you very much.

- Because, to work efficiently, you must have food, and you must have a good camp. Very simple!

- Thank you very much!

16:22

Natsot:

Oil workers

- We went down all through the camp and they took four barrels of engineoil from us and I said ”hey, this is enough of this shit, fucking bring it back!”

- Can you say that again?

16:34

Reporter:

Ian Lundin,

CEO Lundin Oil

– One gets the impression here that you are pretty much dependent on military protection in the area, both from the government forces and from the militias. How does that feel? 

n  Well, it’s obviously part of a country you could call the Wild West; there are lots of different groups running around fighting each other.  And this is not actually a matter of a full-scale war;  I mean it’s ‘tribal’ as we see it, as we think of it, and we have to get some sort of protection from the army in order to be able to work normally.

n  – If you nevertheless should discover that it’s heading in that direction and you find the civil war escalating, probably with the help of oil money, how would you react? 

n  -- We’re not political; we can’t get involved in the internal affairs of the country; we’re here to find oil, develop oil fields, and produce.  And, of course, if the situation gets ugly, we won’t be able to continue; we’ll have to pull out, but that is not a political decision for us: it’s an economic one, a question of what risks we’re willing to run.

17:49

It has been known for a long time that there is oil to be had in southern Sudan, and other companies have tried to extract it in the past.  Rusty metal wrecks in the area around Rubkona testify to serious failures.

18:01

Reporter:

Ghazi Suleiman,

lawyer

- The SPLA has said that the oil fields are the military targets number one right now. Do you approve of that?

- Yeah, definitely, they have the right. They have the right to stop any funds coming to the government to be used against them in the war. This is a very eligible right.

18:21

Reporter:

Abdul Hamdi,

Oil analyst

.

- The SPLA, John Garang himself has said many times that they are going to attack the oil fields. Do you take this threat seriously?

- No. I think John Garang and all the southerners know that they have a stake in the oil coming out. Because wheather they are going to be in a unitary state with the Sudan they will benefit from the oil proceeds. Wheather they are going to opt for a separate state, they are going to get an even bigger benefit. So I think this has been  - I wouldnt call it an empty threat - but this has been you know a sort of a position that he has to maintain as a negotiating position with the oil companys and with the government in the north. But because he had at least a chance to do that, and he has never opted to do that in fact.

19:18

The Khartoum government seems convinced that oil will solve all of the country’s problems.

19:24

Ghazi Salah ed Din,

Minister of Information

Well, we are making headway in terms of  implementing the peace agreement . Certainly we have achieved great successes in that respect, and a proof to that is that we are now developing oil in the very south  which used to be a theater of operation, of war operations in the very recent history. So the fact that the south is being developed  attests to the... what we are saying that we are making progress in terms of developing the south.

20:01

Reporter:

Ghazi Suleiman,

Lawyer

- But the president has spoken recently about peace and reconciliation, he did that in his speech on Independence Day. You dont believe in that?

- The president was speaking about peace and reconciliation since -89. And until today there is no peace and reconciliation.

- So can you see any solution to this conflict then?

- I see a solution. The solution is to replace this government by a democratic government.

20:31

Who should President Bashir listen to?  Those who want to use the oil money to win the war, or the countries that urge him to pursue a more pragmatic policy?

20:44

21:36

Hassan Maki,

Researcher

END

- So I think the president is passing through a difficult time, a difficult situation. If he wanted to please the western countries and foreign countries, I think he would realize that he may lose all his power here inside.

- So you mean he has a choice. He has to choose between pleasing the international community or pleasing the muslims in Sudan?

- If he is going to please the international community, I am afraid he will find himself as a refugee in one of those countries. Because these countries can encourage him, but they can not deliver their support.