In this issue:

Breakthrough Agreement in Sudan Made Possible by U.S. Mediation

Bush Administration Official: Grab African Oil as Alternative to OPEC

Kansteiner 'Caught by Surprise' by Nigeria/OPEC Question

Nigeria Will Not Quit OPEC, Despite U.S.-Israeli Push

Big Shakeup at South African Communist Party Meet

Iran Would Aid Zimbabwe in Irrigation Development

From the Vol.1,No.22 issue of Electronic Intelligence Weekly
AFRICA NEWS DIGEST

Breakthrough Agreement in Sudan Made Possible by U.S. Mediation

The breakthrough agreement in Khartoum, between the government of Sudan and the Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA), was made possible through U.S. mediation, a Sudanese diplomatic source told this news service July 22, confirming wire reports. Although the deal is not final, it does constitute a significant development in resolving the 20-year civil war, as the most important points at issue have been agreed upon: that there is a Federal state, and that Islamic law (Sharia) will be applied to the majority-Muslim North, while other (custom, or African) law will be applied in the non-Muslim South. One open question, is whether the South will consist of three, or 10, states. The South will elect its own state parliaments.

Round two of the talks, scheduled for mid-August, should lead to a ceasefire. Six months thereafter, a six-year period will begin, at the end of which a referendum will be held in the South, regarding union with Khartoum, or secession. This will be decided by the two parties (the government and SPLA) only. The second round should also decide on a formula on wealth-sharing.

The diplomatic source stressed that there is nothing new for the government in the accord, in the sense that all the clauses agreed upon, had been included in the 1996 talks, and even incorporated into the Sudanese draft Constitution. What is new, is that the SPLA has agreed—and this is to be attributed to the U.S., whose representatives were on the scene in Nairobi, where the talks took place.

A wire from Agence France Presse emphasized that "Western oil firms stand to gain from peace moves" in Sudan. Bill Farren-Price of the Cyprus-based Middle East Economic Survey called this "potentially good news for Western oil companies."

The fact is, Sudan has significant oil reserves. According to the diplomatic source, there are four major oil fields. The amount being produced and exported—245,000 barrels per day (bpd)—represents 30% of only one field. In January, a second field will start producing, which means they will move to 300,000 bpd rapidly, and thence, to 450,000 bpd. All this is being done without U.S. investment. In fact, it is the Chinese and the Malaysians, as well as a Canadian firm, that have developed Sudan's oil production, pipeline, and refining capabilities.

Now, the U.S. wants in. John Danforth, the U.S. special envoy for Sudan, reportedly said a few days ago, that if the Sudanese conflict is solved, the area will change from being a conflict zone to being a major oil exporter.

According to AFP, Sudanese political analyst Adlan Hardlallu said that what is crucial here, is the "interests of the United States in a stable area, particularly when it comes to oil production and other economic interests" in Sudan. "They want to compete with the Chinese, Malaysians, and the others who are working in the area," he said. "I don't think the Americans would like these people monopolizing this particular thing."

—This article appeared in The New Federalist of July 29.

Bush Administration Official: Grab African Oil as Alternative to OPEC

U.S. Undersecretary of State for African Affairs Walter Kansteiner was in Nigeria at the end of July for private meetings with Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, on "oil and security issues," The Times of London reported July 29. The paper quoted Kansteiner: "African oil is of national strategic interest to us, and it will increase and become more important as we go forward."

The Times comments that this statement makes the "U.S. objective very clear.... The Bush Administration is anxious to secure alternative sources to Gulf Arab states which are seen as increasingly hostile to U.S. interests.... For the U.S., the producers of Africa's Gulf of Guinea offer a more attractive source of energy than Russia. Nigeria is close to U.S. refineries on the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico."

Coincident with Kansteiner's arrival in Nigeria, there were reports that the U.S. was pressuring Nigeria to leave OPEC. Nigerian Information Minister Jerry Gana responded, by saying: "The United States is trying to put pressure on us. They are luring us to pull out of OPEC. But we know how our interests would be best served, and so we are not going to leave OPEC."

EIR has been following recent deployments of Kansteiner, and knows that he has been in other oil-producting countries in western Africa, Angola certainly being one of them. Future EIW articles will identify his connections to the Wolfowitz "cabal," through the neo-conservative and Likud-spawned private operation, reported below.

Kansteiner 'Caught by Surprise' by Nigeria/OPEC Question

The first question put to Undersecretary of State Walter Kansteiner at the State Department special briefing July 29 on his trip to Africa was about the U.S. demanding that Nigeria leave OPEC. Kansteiner mumbled that he was "taken by surprise" by this report, and denied it.

Nigeria Will Not Quit OPEC, Despite U.S.-Israeli Push

"Nigeria Will Not Leave OPEC, Says National Oil Firm," proclaimed the South African wire service, SAPA, July 22. It turns out that the institute pushing Nigeria to leave OPEC is a creation of a racist, far-right-wing Israeli Likud front, the Institute of Advanced Strategic and Policy Studies (IASPS). According to information being analyzed by EIR, IASPS created a group called the African Oil Policy Initiative Group (AOPIG,) to pressure Nigeria and others to leave OPEC.

IASPS is part of an Anglo-American-Israeli intelligence operation, dominated by Likud crazies in Israel and the U.S., which is pushing a "clash of civilizations" war with Islam. IASPS also overlaps with U.S.-based institutions that are advocating a neo-imperialist U.S. military assault to seize the oil fields in Iraq and Saudi Arabia, under the guise of "reducing U.S. dependency on Middle East petroleum."

IASPS's involvement in African oil operations emerged after SAPA and AFP reported that Nigeria has no intention of quitting OPEC, as had been reported.

Ndu Ughamadu of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation told AFP that a group of U.S. lobbyists had floated the idea on a recent visit to Nigeria, but that it had not found favor with the government. "OPEC is of tremendous importance to us; we are not contemplating pulling out." Similarly, responding to a report in a British weekly that Nigeria was on the verge of pulling out, President Olusegun Obasanjo's special adviser on the budget, Oly Ezekwesili, told AFP: "They are just flying a kite."

The references to "a group of U.S. lobbyists," referred to representatives of the African Oil Policy Initiative Group (AOPIG), which visited Nigeria in late June, and reportedly encouraged Nigeria to break from OPEC to supply the West's oil needs. AOPIG, formed by the Jerusalem-based think tank IASPS, reported SAPA, believes the U.S. should look to Africa to supply most of its oil. Said AOPIG in a recent report: "With Middle Eastern suppliers openly discussing the possibility of an embargo ... increasing and diversifying supply is a matter of national security. It is a prerequisite to freedom of action in U.S. foreign policy. West Africa offers the quickest, most secure and least complicated potential for such an increase."

Big Shakeup at South African Communist Party Meet

"South African Communist Party Axes Cabinet Bigwigs," is the news from the 11th National Congress of the South African Communist Party (SACP), a headline from Dispatch Online July 29 announced. Half of the members of President Thabo Mbeki's cabinet, who were also members of the SACP Central Committee, have been voted off the Committee, while militant leaders of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) took their places. COSATU President Willie Madisha, "a fierce critic of the government," according to Dispatch Online, received the largest number of votes.

President Mbeki, who discontinued his SACP membership a few years ago, was scheduled to open the Congress, but withdrew the night before it opened on July 24. His representative, African National Congress (ANC) national chairman and defense minister Mosiuoa Lekota, was nearly prevented from speaking as the attendees sang a militant song, according to The Star of South Africa.

COSATU general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi called for support for a planned October strike against privatization and said that the future did not belong to cowards, The Star reported.

The SACP "reaffirmed its commitment to the alliance [of SACP, COSATU, and the ruling ANC] and to building an effective ANC," Dispatch Online said.

Johannesburg's Sunday Times, the most widely read newspaper in the country, commented on the elections in an editorial on July 28, entitled, "A Voice of Conscience": "South Africa is too young a democracy to allow the silencing of voices, especially on economic options.... Together with COSATU, the SACP has tried to be the voice that pulls the ANC and the government back to their stated objectives of improving the lives of South Africans. If the SACP serves to remind the ruling elite of this, then it is a voice that should be heard and taken seriously."

Iran Would Aid Zimbabwe in Irrigation Development

Iran has proposed assisting Zimbabwe in the development of irrigation, as part of its support of the country's land-reform program, The Herald of Harare reported July 26. Iran's outgoing Ambassador Behrooz Kamalvandi made the announcment at a news conference in Harare July 26, after meeting with President Robert Mugabe. Behrooz said negotiations were underway and there was a possibility that Harare could access Tehran's official development funds, which would then be used to purchase irrigation equipment from Iran. Ambassador Behrooz said the Iranians were going to expand their investment in Zimbabwe's textiles sector, through buying modern machinery for Modzone Enterprises in Chitungwiza. He said a delegation from the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce would be visiting Tehran soon, to explore business and investment opportunities. The Iranians are also planning to invest in Zimbabwe's medical sector by building a hospital that will specialize in open-heart surgery.

Zimbabwe and Iran enjoy excellent political and diplomatic ties, The Herald noted, and President Mugabe said he was looking forward to the strengthening of economic relations between the two countries.

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