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Bishops oppose Sudan membership in un Security
Council
| Sudan's nomination for UN Security Council membership is unacceptable
as long as the government in Khartoum remains the principal threat to the
safety of Sudan's population, the Sudanese Episcopal Conference said on
Saturday.
The likelihood of a Sudanese nomination to the powerful council depends on the United States, one of five permanent members. The UN sanctions against Sudan and its government's continuing bombing of southern regions of the country where numerous humanitarian relief operations are being carried out make Sudan "unfit for that role," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. The document released by the Sudanese bishops called on countries and multinational corporations to bring their involvement in Sudan's petroleum industry to an immediate halt. The bishops said their help is prolonging the war that will inevitably annihilate the peoples of the Nubian mountains and the southern Blue Nile region. Since 1983, the Islamic government of Khartoum has been waging a civil war against the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) in the south where the majority of the population are black Christians. But ethnic and religious factors at not the only ones behind the conflict: it is increasingly clear that control over the oil wells in the southern part of the country lie behind the government's offensive in the area. "Petroleum has been discovered in Southern Sudan. In addition to the war, are we slaves of international cartels as well? Do we have a right to peace or are we slaves to petroleum?" Bishop Gassis, vice president of the bishops' conference said. He has been forced to live in exile since 1990 and has only been able to operate in those areas of the country controlled by the rebel forces. In their statement, the bishops expressed their "profound and unanimous concern over the continuous bombings of civilian targets carried out by the Sudanese government." They called for both parties to the conflict to commit themselves to a cease-fire and the military no-fly zones in force to be lifted to facilitate humanitarian operations in southern Sudan. The bishops' plea follows a series of "indiscriminate bombings of civilian targets" in several areas in recent months. "The authorities in Khartoum use [military] aircraft to terrorize civilian populations. The bombings' targets are churches, schools, and hospitals run by religious orders," sources said. The bishops' called on the United Nations to monitor the cease-fire and enforce a ban on military flights in southern Sudan. The document also requests the Sudanese government to acknowledge the legitimacy of humanitarian operations being carried in the area by NGOs and the Church and to exclude these as military targets. (Khartoum, CWNews.com/Fides - 19-Sep-2000 -- EWTN
News Brief)
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