George Clooney Aside, Sudan Abyei Conflict About Oil

Actor and Activist George Clooney appeared on CNN's Larry King Live to talk about the Sudan conflict and the need to understand the plight of the people of the Southern Sudanese in their fight for independence.

But what was not talked about on CNN's Larry King Live by either George Clooney or Larry King (unless this blogger missed something) was that this is really a story of a fight for control of oil. Once again, regional conflicts are less about ethnic divisions and more about scarce and valuable resources, like oil. At the center of all of this is the Sudan Abyei region that divides north and south Sudan.

According to Wikipedia, Abyei "is a county and former district of South Kurdufan, Sudan, that is considered an historical bridge between northern and Southern Sudan." On the map of Sudan itself, Abyei is a mere spot in the middle of the country, but because of its oil reserves, it's importance is far beyond it's size.

Abyei is Sudan's main oil producing region and by 2003, was responsible for over one-third of Sudan's crude oil production. But the reserve has depleted since then and because of that, production volumes have reportedly declined.

While nothing has been done to address that issue, the fight for control has escalated and such that a civil war may result. There are two groups critical to the success of ending any Sudan Abyei regional conflict, the Missiriya tribe and the Ngok Dinka. The Missiriya tribe is reported to be aligned with the North Sudanese and the Ngok Dinka are joined with the South Sudanese, thus forming the perfect split.

The current referendum on the future of the region gives the Ngok Dinka voting rights; really all groups should have voting rights.

While the relations between the Missiriya tribe and the Ngok Dinka have been historically amicable, both have been used as the tools of Sudan leaders with no one suggesting joint control, but always some effort that seemed to favor one group over the other. The most logical solution is to achieve full voting rights for all in the region, and shared revenues from oil production between north and south Sudan. Previously, oil profits were directed toward the North in a kind of power-grab.

Shared resources is one dream objective George Clooney should get behind.

Stay tuned

Written by
Zennie Abraham