Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 134 | Wed 16 Nov 2011
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SUDAN: REFUGEES BOMBED; ‘OIL WAR’ LOOMING
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By Elizabeth Kendal
Religious Liberty Monitoring noted in the 14 May 2010 posting: ‘There will
be a massive war for control of the oil fields presently situated on the
southern side of the North-South border.’ (See
http://elizabethkendal.
with-death.html ) It appears that war is looming.
When South Sudan seceded from the north in July, the Republic of Sudan
lost about 25 percent of its land mass, 80 percent of its forests and 75
percent of its oil. Consequently, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA)
was never popular in Khartoum, especially amongst Islamists and the
regime’s military elite. Compounding the situation, Sudan’s remaining oil
fields were located in the region of Abyei and the state of South
Kordofan, whilst the bulk of its hydroelectric power emanated from Blue
Nile. Long politically marginalised and violently persecuted on racial and
religious grounds, the mostly Christian and non-Arab peoples of this ‘new
south’ have long supported the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM).
So that it might cement its control over the resource-rich ‘new south’,
Khartoum has been ethnically cleansing the region. In May, the Sudan Armed
Forces (SAF) surged into Abyei. On 5 June the regime unleashed genocidal
jihad on South Kordofan and extended this to Blue Nile on 1 September.
Untold thousands of mostly Christian non-Arabs have been slaughtered and
many hundreds of thousands displaced. To hasten the genocide, Khartoum has
sealed the region off to humanitarian aid, condemning the displaced to
death by mass starvation. For some shameful reason, Western media do not
seem to regard this as newsworthy.
President Omar el-Bashir was in Blue Nile recently to celebrate the
‘liberation’ (conquest and ethnic cleansing) of Kurmuk, a highly strategic
Blue Nile town on the border with Ethiopia and formerly the main bastion
of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N). Addressing a
rally in the Blue Nile capital Al-Damazin on Sunday 6 November, el-Bashir
declared that Khartoum was ready to return to war with the South where it
would repeat ‘the lessons of Abyei, Kadugli [South Kordofan] and Al-
Damazin [Blue Nile]’. Doubtless the regime intends to use the military to
seize as much as possible of South Sudan’s oil-rich territory, re-drawing
the North-South border to ‘recover’ at least some of what was ‘lost’
through the CPA.
On 8 & 9 November Antonov bombers from the SAF airbase in El Obeid, North
Kordofan, attacked two locations inside South Sudan. The remote region of
Guffa in Upper Nile state, where Oxfam is caring for some 50,000 refugees
from Blue Nile, came under aerial attack on 8 November. Oxfam workers
reported that the four-hour-long bombing and heavy artillery fire
destroyed several structures while killing seven people and wounding many
more. The next day Yida refugee camp in Unity State was bombed. Run by the
Christian charity Samaritan’s Purse, Yida is home to more than 23,000
mostly Nuba registered refugees from South Kordofan. The attack left 12
dead and some 20 wounded, but it could have been much worse. A bomb that
landed outside a school building where over 200 students were in classes
failed to detonate. Praise God and persevere in prayer!
Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP, http://www.satsentinel.org ) has
confirmed that the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) has been upgrading airbases
recently captured from the SPLA-N in Blue Nile’s border regions. The
airstrip in Al- Damazin has been lengthened. Helipads are being developed
at Kurmuk for helicopter gunships and the runway re-laid for Russian-built
Antonov bombers. With an operating radius of some 1100km, Antonovs from
Kurmuk would be able to reach Juba, the capital of South Sudan. On Friday
11 November, 18 died and 73 were wounded when a Khartoum-backed militia
launched a daring cross-border raid into Kuek, Upper Nile State, South
Sudan, attacking the SPLA military base. SPLA colonel, Philip Aguer,
reports that the militias are massing along the border in preparation for
an attack on the oil-producing regions of Upper Nile. ‘This is an oil war
now,’ he said.
[For full background on Sudan see Religious Liberty Monitoring, label:
Sudan http://elizabethkendal.
Map - http://www. sudanreeves.org/2002/05/17/
concessions/
PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT —
* God will be a ‘refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble’ for
all Sudanese Christians — in the North and in the South — who will
faithfully trust HIM through these tumultuous times (Psalm 46:1-3); may
they find peace and comfort in the assurance that their sovereign LORD
is with them (vv4-7) and that HE will be exalted in the earth (vv8-11).
* the LORD’s fearsome anger might be roused (Psalm 76:7), that he might
rise to ‘establish judgement’ and save the humble (vv8,9). May Sudan’s
‘men of war’ and its leadership be hamstrung, reduced and made subject
to HIM (vv5,6,10-12).
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SUMMARY TO USE IN BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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SUDAN: REFUGEES BOMBED; ‘OIL WAR’ LOOMING
The Republic of Sudan Arab-Islamist regime has been waging genocidal jihad
against the mostly Christian non-Arabs of the ‘new south’: Abyei, South
Kordofan and Blue Nile. The regime has now escalated its attacks inside
South Sudan. On 8 & 9 November it bombed refugees from South Kordofan and
Blue Nile as they sheltered in South Sudan’s Unity and Upper Nile States.
On 11 November a Khartoum-backed militia attacked a Southern military base
in Kuek, Upper Nile, South Sudan. Many have been killed and wounded.
Satellite images reveal that Khartoum is establishing and supplying
forward bases and massing militias along the border ready for a full-scale
‘oil war’. Please pray for Sudan’s Christians, in the North and in the
South. May God be their fortress, deliverer and peace.
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We suggest that churches and fellowships using the above Summary might
also provide a copy of the listed prayer points to be used in their
worship by people who are leading in prayer.
For more information, updates and helpful links see Elizabeth Kendal’s
blog ‘Religious Liberty Monitoring’ <http://elizabethkendal.
Previous RLPBs may be viewed at <http://rlprayerbulletin.
This RLPB was written for the Australian Evangelical Alliance Religious
Liberty Commission (AEA RLC) by Elizabeth Kendal, an international
religious liberty analyst and advocate, and a member of the AEA RLC team.
If this bulletin was forwarded to you, you may receive future weekly
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