A divestment campaign begins today [Tuesday] aimed at British firms and investors in the Sudanese oil industry, royalties from which are alleged to fund ethnic cleansing in Darfur. The Aegis Trust, a group focused on combating genocide around the world, will publish a dossier listing the companies and investment groups. It calls on them to use their financial leverage to persuade the Khartoum government to comply with United Nations resolutions and cut its support for the Janjaweed militia, responsible for much of the bloodshed in Darfur. Among the biggest investors [that] the dossier names is the Church of England, owning nearly 2 [million] shares in two Chinese oil companies operating in Sudan, but the Aegis Trust acknowledged that church leaders were “in the process of engaging with both companies”. The report also names Barclays, which it says owns more than £380 [million] in shares in firms working in Sudan‘s oil sector. Among British companies [that] Aegis says are directly involved in the oil industry are two engineering firms: Petrofac and the Weir Group. According to Aegis, Sudan‘s government draws more than 60% of its revenue from oil royalties, money which it says goes towards arming the Janjaweed and carrying out military operations in Darfur. Image source: platform.blogs.com/passionofthepresent
News selected by Covalence | Country: Egypt | Company: Barclays, Petrofac, Weir Group | Source: Sudan: The Passion of the Present
