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Sudan

• Talisman's Sale In Doubt; Cease-fire Strained

  Questions are being raised on whether the sale of Talisman Energy's interests in Sudan to India's national oil company will be able to proceed. The problems center on the other partners in the Greater Nile Oil Project that include the national oil companies of China, Malaysia and Sudan. Talisman owns a 25% share in the project.

  The difficulties apparently revolve around the unfriendly relations that exist between the governments of China and India. There has also been talk that the partners may want a share in the $1.2 billion profit that Talisman will be making from the sale. Talisman Energy, one of Canada's largest oil companies, continues to affirm the January 31 closing date for the sale.

  Talisman Energy has been under intense international pressure over its involvement in the oil production in Sudan. Many reports have confirmed that oil is the primary funding for the Islamist government's offensive against the people of southern Sudan that has killed over two million people. In spite of a cease-fire, government forces have launched a new offensive in the past week, using helicopters, tanks, and ground troops against villages near the oil production sites.

  Pray for peace in Sudan. Pray that the international community will be stirred to act to prevent the continuing attacks against the non-Muslim people of southern Sudan.