Map D: Ethnic Geography In Western Upper Nile

Main Rebel and Militia Forces in Southern Sudan Named in this Report

Anyanya: guerrilla army of southern separatists, 1955-72.

Anyanya II: guerrilla army of southern separatists, 1975-91.

Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A): dominant rebel army in Sudan, 1983-present, composed of southerners and other marginalized peoples such as the Nuba, headed by Col. John GarangdeMabior (Dinka). Program: united, secular Sudan. Headquartered in Rumbek, Bahr El Ghazal, southern Sudan.

South Sudan Liberation Movement (SSLM): a pro-independence southern political movement based in Akobo, Eastern Upper Nile, headed and formed by Michael Wal Duany in late 1999; it signed the Khartoum Peace Agreement with the Sudanese government in 2002.

Rebel forces headed (directly or indirectly) by Cmdr. Riek Machar, 1991-2002:

SPLM/A-Nasir faction: 1991-93, breakaway SPLA faction headed by SPLA Cmdrs. RiekMachar Teny Dhurgon (Dok Nuer), Gordon Kong Chuol (Eastern Jikany Nuer), and Lam Akol(Shilluk); although its program called for an independent south, it received government aid. Headquartered in Nasir until 1995 and thereafter in Waat and Ayod, Upper Nile.

SPLM/A-United: 1993-94: the above faction (mostly Nuer) joined by forces from other ethnic groups in southern Sudan, headed by Cmdr. Riek Machar, based in Nasir. Later this name was used by Lam Akol for his mostly Shilluk faction (see below).

South Sudan Independence Movement/Army (SSIM/A): 1994-97: the above faction, reformed and renamed after the Nuer reconciliation meeting at Akobo in 1994, based variously in Waat and Ayod, Upper Nile.

South Sudan Defense Forces (SSDF): 1997-2000, the army formed under the Khartoum Peace Agreement from ex-rebel forces including SSIM/A, based in Khartoum, Juba, and Malakal, and aligned with the political party United Democratic Salvation Front (UDSF). Both were headed by Cmdr. Riek Machar until January 2000, when he left the government. On April 27, 2001 all southern forces allied with the government were unified under this name, SSDF, including the progovernment militia forces listed below.

Sudan People's Defense Forces/Democratic Front (SPDF): January 2000-January 2002 or when the merger with the SPLM/A was complete, the rebel group formed from most SSDF forces, based in Upper Nile.

Some pro-government militia forces (later known as "armed groups"):

South Sudan Unity Movement/Army (SSUM/A): formed in early 1998 by Maj Gen. Paulino Matiep of the Sudan army, incorporating his formerly Anyanya II and SSDF Bul Nuer forces, supported by the Sudan government, based in Mayom, Western Upper Nile. (Bul Nuer)

Cmdr. Gabriel Tanginya, pro-government Nuer militia based in Fangak, later Poum, Central Upper Nile. (Lak Nuer)

Cmdr. Gordon Kong Chuol, pro-government Nuer militia based in Nasir, Eastern Upper Nile. (eastern Jikany Nuer)

Cmdr. Simon Gatwich Dual, pro-government Nuer militia based in Waat, Central Upper Nile. (Lou Nuer)

SPLM/A-United: Cmdr. Lam Akol's Shilluk forces formed in 1994, which signed the Khartoum Peace Agreement in 1997. Lam Akol claimed the name after the Riek Machar forces in 1994 took the name South Sudan Independence Movement/Army (SSIM/A). Lam Akol had been part of the original SPLM/A-United. Based in Tonga, the Shilluk capital, in Upper Nile of southern Sudan.

For further details, consult the Glossary, Lists of Key Individuals, and the text. There are several other southern ethnic militias armed by the government, including the Murle, the Mandari, the Toposa, the Didinga, and the Fertit and other ethnic groups not named here.

Most southerners' names include their "proper" name first, their father's name second, and their grandfather's name last. For example, to refer to Cmdr. Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon as "Machar" is to refer to that commander's father. Therefore the first and second names are used in this report.

Key Southern Individuals Named in This Report

Note: The names are listed alphabetically by second name (underlined), unless the person is known by another name.

Abel Alier Kwai Respected southern politician living in Khartoum, former vice president of Sudan and head of the Southern Region during part of the autonomy period. Author of Southern Sudan:Too Many Promises Dishonored (1990). (Bor Dinka)

Tito Biel Chuol Western Upper Nile zonal commander in SSDF in May 1999 in charge of the attack on the oil company rig at Ryer/Thar Jath, Western Upper Nile. Instrumental in securing field alliance with Cmdr. Salva Kiir Mayandit of the SPLA. Originally in the SPLA, joined the Riek Machar breakaway faction in 1991 and followed him into the government in 1997, becoming part of the SSDF, and then in 2000 part of Machar's SPDF. In late 2002 he realigned himself with the SSDF (pro-government). (Dok Nuer)

Kuong Danhier Gatluak Head of security of the SPDF in 1999. Joined the SPLA and defected with Riek Machar in 1991. When Riek Machar was in the government, Kuong Danhier was chief security officer for the SSDF, based in Nairobi. Joined Riek Machar when Machar defected from the government in early 2000. (Nyuong Nuer)

Taban Deng Gai Spokesman for Machar's SPDF forces in Nairobi, Kenya from December 2000 until June 2001, when he rejoined the SPLA. Originally joined the SPLA in the 1980s and left to join his relative by marriage, Riek Machar, when he split from the SPLA in 1991. In 1996 he joined the government with Riek Machar and became a leader of the political party they formed, the UDSF. He won an election for governor of Unity State/Western Upper Nile in December 1997 and was expelled from the governorship and the state in May 1999 by Maj. Gen. Paulino Matiep. He fled to Khartoum. He was appointed state minister for roads and communications in January 2000 by President Bashir and defected from the government in December 2000, and joined Machar's new faction, the SPDF, until he decided to rejoin the SPLA. (Leek/Western Jikany Nuer)

Michael Wal Duany Head of the SSLM as of late 1999 to the current time. Dr. Duany represented the Nuer intellectuals in the diaspora at the Wunlit Nuer-Dinka West Bank peace and reconciliation meeting of March 1999; formerly with the Workshop on Political Theory and Policy Analysis at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, U.S. Based in Akobo, Upper Nile. (Lou Nuer)

John Garang de Mabior Commander-in-chief of the SPLA and head of the SPLM. Member of Anyanya briefly at the end of the first civil war in 1972, and was incorporated into the Sudan army, earned a PhD in the U.S. in agricultural/environmental studies, and having attained the rank of colonel in the Sudan army, was a founder of the SPLM/A in Ethiopia in 1983. He supported a united secular Sudan against internal SPLA rivals (separatist Anyanya II) in 1983 and won out, with backing from Ethiopia's president Haile Mengistu Meriam, continuing in control of the SPLM/A today. A Twic Dinka from Aborom in Kongor County (near Bor; he is frequently referred to as Bor Dinka).

Peter Gatdet Yaka Former Sudanese army officer sent to Iraq to fight against the Iranians in the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. He joined the SPLA and left it in 1991 with Riek Machar. He was assigned to Cmdr. Paulino Matiep's Bul Nuer forces as an officer, and when they split off from the SSDF he became a key commander in Commander Matiep's SSUM/A pro-government militia. He fought on the behalf of the government against the SSDF forces under Cmdr. Tito Biel in Block 5A in 1999 for control of Block 5A. He and his forces mutinied against Maj. Gen. Paulino Matiep in September 1999 and fought against the government. For several months he coordinated his activities with the SSDF (under Cmdr. Tito Biel/Peter Paar) against the government, and attacked various oil targets in Western Upper Nile/Unity State. In early 2000 he joined the SPLA. He began fighting Cmdr. Riek Machar's SPDF forces (under Cmdr. Peter Paar, formerly his SSDF adversary in 1999) in July 2000. During this round, he was anti-government and the Machar forces were pro-government. After disagreements reportedly about military discipline with the SPLA, he rejoined the government's militia forces in late 2002. (Bul Nuer)

Elijah Hon Top (deceased 2000) SSDF chief of staff under the Khartoum Peace Agreement. After Riek Machar resigned unexpectedly from the government in January 2000, Cmdr. Elijah Hon Top, a Lou Nuer from Ayod, became the spokesman for the SSDF and the UDSF in Khartoum. Formerly with the SPLA and Machar's breakaway faction in 1991, he joined the government with Machar in 1997. (Gaawar Nuer)

Kerubino Kuanyin Bol (deceased September 1999) Anyanya officer, then incorporated into the Sudan army after 1972, he was leader of the Bor mutineers whose rebellion lead to the formation of the SPLA in Ethiopia in 1983. Jailed by Garang for conspiracy in 1987, he escaped in 1992 and in 1993 joined Riek Machar's breakaway rebel group. By 1994 his Dinka militia was directly supplied by the Sudanese army from his home, the garrison town of Gogrial, Bahr El Ghazal. Defected to the SPLA in January 1998, and split with the SPLA later in that year and received protection from his in-law, Maj. Gen. Paulino Matiep, in Mankien. Killed by forces of Cmdr. Peter Gatdet after they mutinied from Paulino Matiep and captured the Mankien base in September 1999. (Tuic Dinka)

Salva Kiir Mayardit A native of Bahr El Ghazal, assigned chief of staff of the SPLA in late 1999. He was commander of Bahr El Ghazal in 1999 when he strongly backed the Dinka-Nuer Peace and Reconciliation Conference at Wunlit. (Rek Dinka)

Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon Rebel leader with the SPLA from 1984 until the 1991 split, which he helped lead. As SPLA Zonal Commander of Western Upper Nile, entered into agreement with Baggara chiefs in 1986. Led breakaway faction from SPLM/A in 1991, forming a separate southern rebel movement initially known as the SPLA-Nasir (from 1993 the SPLA-United, and from 1994-97 the SSIM/A). Despite espousing independence for the south, his faction received covert support from the government as it fought for years (1991-99) against the SPLA, resorting to increasingly bloody and ethnically motivated attacks against civilians. His SSIA rebel forces claimed all the rural land of Western Upper Nile/Unity State, except the few garrison towns and the Bul Nuer area where Paulino Matiep and Anyanya II prevailed. Signed 1996 Political Charter and 1997 Khartoum Peace Agreement with government, which in 1997 appointed him president of the Southern States Coordinating Council (SSCC) and assistant to President of Sudan Omar el Bashir. Also formed and became head of the political party United Democratic Salvation Front (UDSF) and commander-in-chief of the military arm created under the Khartoum Peace Agreement, the South Sudan Defense Force (SSDF), comprising most of the ex-rebels who had signed that agreement. His failure to stem the government's forced displacement of civilians from Western Upper Nile/Unity State ended up turning the Nuer against his leadership and eventually led to his belated resignation from government and attempt to recreate his army in the south in 2000 as the Sudan People's Democratic Forces (2000-02). In January 2002 signed an agreement with Dr. John Garang to merge the SPDF and the SPLA, receiving a leadership position in the SPLA. (Dok Nuer)

Benjamin Majak In the late 1990s, head of the relief arm of the SPLA, the SRRA, based in his Dinka area of Ruweng County, Western Upper Nile, and  an SPLA commander in that area. With the Khartoum government since 2000. (Panaru/Ruweng Dinka)

Paulino Matiep Nhial Bul Nuer ally of the Sudan government. He was in Anyanya but was not incorporated into the Sudan army after the 1972 peace agreement. He became a rebel again in 1975 in Bilpam, went to Ethiopia, and returned to Western Upper Nile in 1985-86 as Anyanya II. He never joined the SPLA, in part because of its 1983 attacks on Anyanya II. He remained in Anyanya II, armed and supported by the government. With then army officer Omar El Bashir (who led the 1989 coup and became Sudan's president), he successfully recaptured Mayom garrison in Western Upper Nile in early 1989 from the SPLA. He joined Machar's breakaway faction in 1991. His forces were incorporated into the SSDF forces after the 1997 Khartoum Peace Agreement, but he fought the SSDF forces for control of the governorship of Unity State in September 1997, and lost. In March 1998 his South Sudan Unity Movement/Army (SSUM/A) was recognized by the government, which continued to directly provide him with arms and ammunition. He was named a major general in Sudan's army in or before 1998. In 1998-present, he fought on behalf of the government, forcibly displacing civilians from Block 5A. For a longer period he helped the government conduct displacements from Blocks 1, 2, and 4. In 2003 he was again engaged in fighting against Nuer pro-government rivals for control of the governorship of Unity State, and lost. (Bul Nuer)

Peter Paar Jiek, SPDF commander of Western Upper Nile in 2000-01. Formerly SSDF commander under Cmdr. Tito Biel in the fighting in 1998-99 in Western Upper Nile/Unity State. He was with Machar's forces since the split from the SPLA in 1991. He coordinated anti-government attacks with Gatdet's forces until June 2000, when he and Gatdet began to fight each other. He and Gatdet settled the "war of the Peters" in late 2000, and with Riek Machar he rejoined the SPLA in 2001. (Dok Nuer)

Nuer pro-government militia leaders:

Simon Gatwich Dual Pro-government Nuer militia leader based in Akobo, Upper Nile. With the SPLA, he followed Machar in 1991, becoming an SSDF commander in 1997. In 1999 he began receiving direct government funding. He followed Riek Machar out of the government in 2000 and Riek Machar named him governor of Leich State (Western Upper Nile/Unity State). He went with Riek Machar into the SPLA in 2002 but may have remained in some relationship with the Sudanese government and militias. (Lou Nuer)

Gordon Kong Chuol Pro-government Nuer militia leader based in Eastern Upper Nile. An Anyanya veteran and founder of the SPLM/A, he joined the separatist Anyanya II and fought against the SPLA from 1983-88, when he led the reconciliation of most Anyanya II with the SPLA. With Riek Machar and Lam Akol, he led the breakaway faction that split from the SPLA in 1991. The faction received military assistance from the government and in 1997 signed the Khartoum Peace Agreement with the government. He was made an SSDF (pro-government) commander in 1997 under Riek Machar, and he began to accept direct supplies from the government in 1998. From that time a government militia leader operating out of Nasir with his local Jikany Nuer troops. (Eastern Jikany Nuer)

Gabriel Tanginya (nom de guerre) Commander of government Nuer militia based in Fangak then Pom, Upper Nile, he was associated with Cmdr. Paulino Matiep in the early Anyanya II and with him joined Cmdr. Riek Machar's breakaway rebel forces in 1991. He became a government militia leader by accepting direct government backing in 1998-99. In early 2000 he hijacked a U.N. plane in protest of the U.N.'s alleged transport of commanders to Riek Machar's then location in Koch, Western Upper Nile. (Lak Nuer)

Key Non-Southern Individuals Named in This Report

Awad al-Jaz Sudanese minister of energy and mining.

Lloyd Axworthy Canadian minister of foreign affairs (1997-late 2000) who in 1999 threatened sanctions for Talisman Energy if it was implicated in human rights abuses.

Omar el Bashir President of Sudan who initially took power through a military coup on June 30, 1989, when he held the rank of brigadier general in the Sudan army. Elected later to president when the opposition refused to participate in elections.

James W. Buckee Chief executive officer and president of Talisman Energy, Inc., formerly with British Petroleum before it spun off Talisman as an independent oil company.

Leonardo Franco U.N. special rapporteur for human rights in Sudan mandated by the U.N. Commission on Human Rights from 1998-2000; professor of law in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

John Harker Canadian specialist in African issues and advisor to the government of Canada. He headed the human rights team specially appointed in October 1999 by the Canadian foreign ministry to investigate whether oil development was exacerbating the war in Sudan, and wrote its report in January 2000.

Adolph Lundin Geneva-based oil and minerals investor whose family owns Lundin Oil AB and its subsidiary, the International Petroleum Corporation, part owner and lead partner of the consortium on Block 5A in Western Upper Nile (Unity State) until 2003, and part owner (24.5 percent) of the consortium on Block 5B.

Sadiq al Mahdi Sudanese prime minister (1965-67 and 1986-89), the head of the Umma Party and the Mahdi family, decendants of the holy man who led the Islamic national fight against the Egyptians and British and liberated Sudan from their control in 1881. The Mahdi family also heads the Sudanese Muslim religious sect, the Ansar, which is the base of the Umma Party. In 1995 the Umma Party joined the National Democratic Alliance (NDA, a coalition of opposition armed and political groups) in Asmara, Eritrea, and on its own fielded a small army against the Sudan government in eastern Sudan under overall command of the NDA. In 2000, the Umma Party left the NDA and returned to Sudan to operate as a political party, but refuses to take part in elections and insists on a constitutional conference.

Jafa'ar Numeiri Former general and president of Sudan (1969-85), through a military coup; he created a socialist one-party state. After the Sudanese Communist Party tried to overthrow him in 1971 (and he thereafter executed a number of its major leaders) and Ethiopia joined the USSR camp in the mid-1970s, Sudan under President Numeiri became a U.S. ally and received large amounts of western aid and loans. At various times formed alliances with the Sudan Communist Party, southerners, and Islamists (enacting shari'a in 1983) before he was overthrown by military coup in support of a popular uprising in 1985. He stayed in exile in Egypt until 1999, when he returned to Sudan and was amnestied. Presided over inauguration of the GNPOC pipeline in 1999.

Ali Osman Mohamed Taha Sudanese first vice president since 1998, an active leader in the National Islamic Front in the 1980s, who became the head of the National Congress (NC) until 2000. He joined the side of Pres. Omar El Bashir in an internal NC split between Pres. Bashir and al Turabi.

Hassan Al Turabi Intellectual and political leader of Sudan's Islamist movement since the 1960s, he was named Attorney General under President Numeiri. He advocated the enactment of shari'a; his Muslim Brotherhood was suppressed by Numeiri and Turabi was jailed by Numeiri in early 1985. After Numeiri's overthrow and the reorganization of political parties for elections, he and his followers fielded Islamist candidates under the National Islamic Front (NIF), which took 20 percent of the vote. He was jailed in the immediate aftermath of the 1989 Islamist military coup that overthrew Prime Minister Sadiq al Mahdi. Although he did not hold government or party office until the late 1990s, he was believed to be de facto the most powerful man in Sudan until late 1999, when his former protégé President Bashir curbed his power and dismissed him from the NIF (by then known as the National Congress) in early 2000. He formed a rival Islamist party, the Popular National Congress (PNC) party, and was held in prolonged arbitrary detention by the government in 2001 (after the PNC signed a compact with the SPLA) although the courts ordered him released. As of late 2003, he remains in detention.

Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations

AGI                                Arab Group International, a corporation run by Prince Sultan bin Saud Abdullah al-Saud, whose 1995 promised funding for Arakis' oil project in Sudan never materialized.

Ansar                              A Sudanese Sunni Muslim religious sect headed by Sadiq al Mahdi; many Ansar members live in Omdurman and western Sudan. They form the base of the Umma Party.

Anyanya                         The southern Sudanese rebel (separatist) army of the first civil war, 1955-72; Anyanya is the word for a poison made in southern Sudan.

Anyanya II                     Southern Sudanese rebel (separatist) forces formed in the south in the late 1970's. The name covered a series of independent groups, some political, some bandits. Ethiopia assisted some of them and by 1982 these began to bring discipline to the others. After the SPLA was formed and backed by Ethiopia in 1983, some Anyanya II resisted incorporation and their leaders allied with Khartoum for military and political support. Groups of Anyanya II came from specific sections of the Gaajak Nuer of Maiwut, the Bul Nuer of Western Upper Nile, the Mor Lou of Akobo, and the Lak and Thiang Nuer of Zeraf Valley. In 1987-90 the SPLA won most of them over, but they remained in their home areas and sided with Riek Machar during the 1991 split in the SPLA. Paulino Matiep, an Anyanya II leader, never joined the SPLA.

Arakis                             Arakis Energy Corporation, an oil exploration company listed on the Vancouver (Canada) Stock Exchange (VSE). Arakis acquired part of the Chevron concession in Blocks 1, 2, and 4 in the Muglad Basin in Sudan in 1992. In 1997 it formed and led a consortium, the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company (GNPOC), to develop and produce oil in those blocks; it was acquired in a friendly merger by Talisman Energy Inc. in October 1998.

Baggara                          Arabic word for cattlemen. The Baggara are cattle-owning Arabic-speaking (Muslim) nomads of western Sudan, including the Misseriya and Humr ethnic groups of southern Kordofan and the Rizeigat of southern Darfur. Because of the notoriety attached to the name "Baggara" as a result of the resurgence of slavery in the 1980s in Sudan, these ethnic groups no longer want to be referred to as "Baggara."

BCSC                             British Columbia Securities Commission, responsible for regulating the Vancouver Stock Exchange.

Beja Congress                A political party of eastern Sudanese Beja people, which took up arms in the 1990s and joined the opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA). It claimed responsibility for January and May 2000 oil pipeline attacks. The Beja Congress backed candidates for parliamentary office in the 1950s, 1960s and 1980s.

BP Amoco                     One of the three largest integrated energy companies in the world, it purchased 20 percent of PetroChina's Initial Public Offering in early 2000. Now called BP.

CARE                            An international relief and development agency headquartered in the U.S.

CRS                               Catholic Relief Services, an international relief and development agency headquartered in the U.S.

Chevron Corp.                A U.S. multinational integrated oil company granted oil concessions in Sudan in 1974. It pulled out of southern Sudan in 1984 for security reasons and sold off its Sudanese concessions at a loss in 1992.

CNPC                            China National Petroleum Corporation, a Chinese state-owned oil company that has owned the largest (40 percent) share of the Greater Petroleum Nile Petroleum Operating Company (GNPOC) since 1997.

CPTDC                         China Petroleum Technology and Development Corporation, a Chinese state-owned company that received 70 percent of the GNPOC pipeline contract in early 1998.

Concorp                         Concorp International, a private Sudanese oil company owned by Abdullah Jar al Nabi, which purchased the Chevron Sudan concession in 1992 and sold it off in parts. Now owns a private oil refinery north of Khartoum, built to refine Sudanese crude oil for domestic consumption, which became operational in 2000.

Danforth points             Four points proposed by former U.S. Senator John Danforth, Special Envoy for Peace in Sudan (appointed by President George W. Bush on September 6, 2001) for the Sudanese government and the SPLM/A to meet in order to prove their desire for peace. They agreed to all four points: a humanitarian six-month cease-fire in the central Nuba Mountains region, with international monitors; willingness to cooperate with an internationally-sponsored commission to investigate the ongoing practice of slavery in Sudan; establishment of "zones of tranquility" to allow for emergency humanitarian interventions; and not to target civilians or civilian objects in the war in the south, with international monitoring.

DUP                               Democratic Unionist Party, based in the Khatmiyya Muslim religious sect in eastern Sudan, traditionally headed by the El Mirghani family, also head of the Khatmiyya sect. It is a political party in exile and part of the NDA; its leader, Moulana Mohammed Osman El Mirghani, also heads the NDA.

Dinka                             An African people living in the Bahr El Ghazal and Upper Nile provinces of Sudan; probably the largest ethnic group in Sudan comprising approximately 12 percent of the population in 1983. They speak Dinka, a western Nilotic language, and believe in a Dinka religion but many have converted to Christianity.

GNPOC                         Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company, the joint venture among Talisman (its interest acquired by ONGC Videsh Ltd. in 2003), CNPC, Petronas, and Sudapet to own and develop Blocks 1, 2, and 4 of Sudan's Muglad Basin oil fields. It also owns the pipeline connecting the GNPOC oil fields to the Red Sea and the port built on the Red Sea for oil supertankers.

IGAD                             Intergovernmental Authority on Development (formerly the Intergovernmental Authority on Drought and Desertification, IGADD), comprising Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan, Kenya, and Uganda. Has hosted peace negotiations between the government of Sudan and the SPLM/A since 1993.

IPC                                International Petroleum Corporation, a Canadian corporation; it owned a 40.375 percent interest in Block 5A as lead consortium partner; it also acquired a 10 percent interest in Arakis in 1995, sold in 1998. IPC was folded into its parent Swedish corporation, Lundin Oil AB, in 1998.

jallaba                            Arabic term for merchant, trader, or importer: in nineteenth and twentieth century Sudan it applied to itinerant petty merchants. In southern Sudan it has the additional (historical) meaning of slave trader, and is applied generally to all northern Sudanese. Jallabiya refers to their robe of rough white cotton.

KAIROS                        Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives/ Initiatives canadiennes oecumeniques pour la justice (formerly the Inter-Church Coalition on Africa/ICCAF)

Khartoum Peace

Agreement                     Signed in Khartoum on April 21, 1997, by the government of Sudan and six leaders of rebel factions that had been secretly

                                      allied with Khartoum for years.

LRA                               Lord's Resistance Army, Ugandan rebel group noted for its gross abuses of human rights, including kidnapping and brutalizing Ugandan children; the LRA has been supported by the Sudanese government and operates in northern Uganda out of bases near the government garrison town of Juba in southern Sudan.

Lundin Oil                     A Swedish oil company traded on the Stockholm Exchange and formerly the NASDAQ. It is the owner of IPC (see above) through which it had a 40.375 percent share in Block 5A of Sudan's Muglad oil fields and retains a 24.5 percent interest in Block 5B.

Médecins Sans               An international humanitarian aid organization that provides

Frontières (MSF)           emergency medical assistance in conflict zones around the world; winner of the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize.

Misseriya                        A Baggara ethnic group of Arabic-speaking cattle-owning nomads living in southern Kordofan.

mujahedeen                   Arabic word for the Muslim concept of holy warriors or participants in jihad (holy war); sometimes used to refer to Islamist militias sponsored by the government.

muraheleen(murahiliin) The Misseriya word for "travelers," now referring to Baggara tribal militias of southern Darfur and southern Kordofan armed by successive Sudanese governments starting with Pres. Numeiri, and incorporated in 1989 into government militias under army jurisdiction.  

National Congress         The Islamist political party formed from the National Islamic Front under the 1999 Sudan constitution.

NDA                             National Democratic Alliance, opposition alliance of political parties and armed groups formed in exile; members include the SPLM/A, DUP, Sudan Alliance Forces, Beja Congress, and others; from 1995 to 2000 the Umma Party was a member.

NIF                                National Islamic Front, the militant Islamist political party that came to power in 1989 after a military coup overthrew the elected government. It was initially known as the Muslim Brotherhood, after the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood; then the Islamic Charter Front (1964-85); the NIF (1985-2000); and in 1999 renamed the National Congress. Its founder Hassan el Turabi, and others, formed a break-away political party in 2000, the Popular National Congress, after an internal coup lead to Turabi's removal from NC leadership.

Nilotic (western)            A language group to which some southern Sudanese belong, including the Dinka, Nuer, Shilluk, Anuak (including Pari), Luo (including Acholi) and Meban.

Nuba                              The African people living in Southern Kordofan's Nuba Mountains, comprised of fifty ethnic groups and subgroups with over ten distinct language groups using Arabic as their lingua franca. Some are Muslims, some Christians, and some practice traditional Nuba religions. Their territory was divided between government towns and rebel-held (SPLA) rural areas until a ceasefire in January 2002.

Nuer                              An African people living in the Upper Nile region of Sudan; the second largest people in southern Sudan. They speak Nuer and believe in a Nuer religion although many have converted to Christianity.

OCHA                           U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

OEPA                            Organization of Exploration and Production Authority: a Sudanese government entity.

OLS                               Operation Lifeline Sudan, the result of humanitarian access agreements to war-affected areas of Sudan negotiated from 1989 onwards between the government of Sudan, the SPLM/A, and the United Nations. The humanitarian operation comes under the U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan based in Khartoum. He is assisted by two deputy humanitarian coordinators; one in Khartoum, for operationsin government-held territory; and one in Nairobi, for operations in rebel-controlled territory. OLS in the south is a consortiumof six operational U.N. agencies and forty-five international and Sudanese nongovernmental organizations. It is headquartered in Khartoum and the southern sector is headquartered in Nairobi. The only official entry point by air is from Lokichokkio, Kenya.

OMV                              OMV (Sudan) Exploration GmbH, owned by the largest company in Austria, OMV Aktiengesellschaft, which is traded in Vienna, Munich, and Frankfurt. It held 26.125 percent of the Block 5A consortium (1997-2003) and 24.5 percent of the Block 5B consortium.

OPEC                            Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, of which Sudan is not yet a member.

PDF                               Popular Defence Force, an Islamist government-sponsored militia under the jurisdiction of the Sudanese army, which trains, arms, and supervises these forces.

PetroChina                     Chinese oil company formed of CNPC domestic Chinese assets and liabilities in 1999, in order to float an initial public offering (IPO) to raise money on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) for domestic Chinese oil and gas operations; CNPC owns 90 percent of PetroChina.

Petronas                         Petronas Carigali Overseas Sudan Berhad, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Petronas Nasional Berhad, the national petroleum corporation of Malaysia, which owns a 30 percent share of the GNPOC, a 28.5 (since 2003, a 68.875) percent share of the Block 5A concession, and a 41 percent share of the Block 5B concession, for which it is co-lead partner.

Political Charter             Signed April 10, 1996 by the government of Sudan and Riek Machar for the SSIM/A and Cmdr. Kerubino Kuanyin Bol of the SPLA/BEG. Both forces had been cooperating with and receiving material and logistical support from the government long before signing of this political charter.

Proved/

probable reserves           Proved reserves: Estimated quantities of energy sources that analysis of geologic and engineering data demonstrates with reasonable certainty are recoverable under existing economic and operating conditions. The location, quantity, and grade of the energy source are usually considered to be well established in such reserves. http://www.eia.doe.gov/glossary/glossary_p.htm, "Energy Glossary."

RASS                             Relief Association of South Sudan, the relief arm of the forces led by Riek Machar (1991-2003). In 2003, it merged with the SSRA to form the SRRC.

Riek Machar forces        SPLA-Nasir, SPLA-United (1993-94), SSIM/A, SSDF, SPDF.

Rizeigat                         Baggara ethnic group of Arabic-speaking cattle-owning nomads living in southern Darfur.

Royal Dutch/Shell         An Anglo-Dutch group of companies of which the two ultimate holding companies are the Netherlands-based Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. (60 percent) and the U.K.-based Shell Transport & Trading PLC (40 percent). The group includes companies operating in more than 135 countries and engaged in the core businesses of exploration and production, oil products, chemicals, downstream gas and power, and renewables. Shell participated as a junior partner in Chevron's oil operations in Sudan in the early 1980s. It has offices in Sudan for storage bunkers and seafreight, and for marketing and chemicals. It entered into a marketing agreement with GNPOC in 1999. As of 2001, it agreed that it would not sell aviation fuel to the Sudanese army.

Samaritan's Purse          Only hospital in one hundred kilometers in Eastern Equatoria region of southern Sudan, serving 100,000 people for three years and run by the U.S. religious NGO Samaritan's Purse; it was bombed by the government of Sudan five times in 2000. Located in Lui, Eastern Equatoria.

SIARG                           Sudan Inter-Agency Reference Group, a consortium initially of eleven Canadian agencies (grown to twenty-two) campaigning to press the Canadian government to develop a just and humane policy on Sudan, especially to require the Canadian oil companies Arakis and then Talisman Energy to divest their Sudan holdings.

SPDF                             Sudan People's Democratic Front/Defence Forces, a southern antigovernment military and political force formed by Riek Machar in early 2000; merged with SPLM/A by agreement of January 2002.

SPLM/A                        Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army, the political organization and army of Sudanese rebels formed in 1983, of which John Garang de Mabior is chairman and commander-in-chief. It remains the largest rebel group in Sudan.

SPLM/A-United            Current usage: Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army-United, a rebel group based in the Shilluk of Tonga, Upper Nile, southern Sudan. It was formed by Lam Akol after his February 1994 expulsion by Riek Machar from the Riek Machar forces which were then called SPLM/A-United. When Riek Machar's faction adopted the name SSIM/A later in 1994, Lam Akol retained the SPLM/A-United name for his group. It joined the government in 1997 under the Khartoum Peace Agreement.

Prior usage: The group that split, under Cmdr. Riek Machar, from the SPLA in 1991 and received covert government assistance. It used the name SPLA-Nasir until March 27, 1993, when prominent individuals joined and it was renamed SPLA-United. In late 1994 the name was changed to SSIM/A.

SRRA                             Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Association, relief wing of the SPLM/A; in 2003 it merged with RASS and formed the SRRC.

SRRC                             Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission, formed of the merger of RASS and SRRA; the relief wing of the SPLM/A in 2003

SSCC                              Southern States Coordinating Council, created by the 1997 Khartoum Peace Agreement to govern southern Sudan prior to a self-determination referendum to be held (after certain conditions were met) in four years, pursuant to that agreement.

SSDF                             South Sudan Defense Force, a government umbrella group for former rebel factions headed by Riek Machar until 2000, formed as a result of the 1997 Khartoum Peace agreement between the government and the forces of Riek Machar and other commanders who signed the agreement. After 2000, it was headed by Brig. Gen. Gatluak Deng (removed in late 2002) and then by Maj. Gen. Paulino Matiep.

SSIM/A                         South Sudan Independence Movement/Army; breakaway faction of the SPLA from 1994 to 1997. Led by Cmdr. Riek Machar, Cmdr. Gordon Kong and Cmdr. Lam Akol, it broke away from the SPLM/A and John Garang's leadership in August 1991. It was based in Nasir, Upper Nile, and for a time was referred to as SPLA-Nasir. It was dependent on clandestine military supplies and cooperation from the Khartoum government. On March 27, 1993, others joined and it was renamed SPLA-United. In November 1994, it was renamed South Sudan Independence Movement/Army to emphasize its focus on southern separation and independence. In April 1996 it signed a political charter and in April 1997 a peace agreement with the government. Its forces were then designated the South Sudan Defense Force (with which other ex-rebel militias joined); its associated political wing was the UDSF. When Riek Machar left the government in early 2000, many of these troops joined his newly-created Sudan People's Defense Forces/Democratic Front (SPDF) but a considerable number remained in the SSDF on the government side.

SSLM/A                        South Sudan Liberation Movement/Army, a political pro-southern independence movement formed after the Lou Nuer peace and governanceconference in Waat, Upper Nile, in November 1999, and announced in a press release on January 31, 2000; Michael Wal Duany is chairman and commander-in-chief. It described itself as a regional Upper Nile grouping, cooperating with all forces fighting the government for self determination for the south. In July 2002 it signed the Khartoum Peace Agreement with the government.

SSUM/A                        South Sudan United Movement/Army, formed by government militia leader Maj. Gen. Paulino Matiep from his Bul Nuer constituency in March 1998; always a government ally.

State Petroleum             Company that bought the rights to Blocks 1, 2, and 4 from Concorp, which had bought them from Chevron in 1992. Went into partnership with Arakis Energy to develop the oil fields and was bought out by Arakis.

Sudapet                          Sudapet Ltd., the state-owned oil company of Sudan, which owns a 5 percent share of the GNPOC consortium and 5 percent share of the Block 5A consortium. It owns 10 percent of and is co-lead partner on Block 5B with Petronas.

 Sudd                              The name for the large blocks of aquatic vegetation obstructing the channels of the swamps of the White Nile in southern Sudan (and impeding European and Arab penetration) prior to the twentieth century. Sudd was derived from the Arabic word sadd meaning barrier or obstacle. Today it is used to describe the permanent swamp of the Nile or, more loosely, the whole Nile flood-plain, including the seasonal wetlands as well as the permanent swamp.

Talisman                        Talisman Energy Inc, the largest independent Canadian oil and gas producer. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, it was the operational partner and owned 25 percent of GNPOC from October 1998 until early 2003. Talisman was spun off from British Petroleum and is now one of Canada's largest corporations.

Toic                               Seasonally river-flooded grasslands in the White Nile basin of southern Sudan. They are exposed late in the dry season as the floodwaters recede and provide excellent pastureland.

TotalFinaElf                  One of the world's largest integrated oil companies. It operates in more than 100 countries. In 1980 Total of France gained the concession for Block 5 (158,113 square kilometers in the Bor, Pibor and Kapoeta districts of southern Sudan). In 1999 Total allied with PetroFina to be the fifth largest oil company in the world, called TotalFina. In 2000 it merged with Elf-Acquitaine to become the fourth largest oil company in the world, TotalFinaElf. Its Block 5 concession in southern Sudan, which it reduced to about 120,000 square kilometers, has not been developed, due to the war. Block 5 is the largest oil concession in Sudan.

UDSF                             United Democratic Salvation Front, the political association (party) of ex-rebels headed by Riek Machar until he left the government in 2000. It registered with the government as a political association in 1999.

UMCC                           Upper Nile Provisional Military Command Council, an anti-government pro-southern independence unified military force created in Waat, Upper Nile, on November 4, 1999, from the mostly Nuer forces of the SSDF, SSUA, SPLA, and others. It declared the Khartoum Peace Agreement dismantled by Sudan government actions and delinked itself from that government, pledging to be responsible to a political body to be formed after adequate consultation among the political cadres of Upper Nile (the SSLM). It dissolved after Riek Machar defected from the Sudanese government in early 2000.

Umma Liberation Army The armed wing of the Umma Party, which became active when the Umma Party joined the NDA in 1995 and inactive when the Umma returned from exile to Sudan in 2000.

Umma Party                  The political party which was the senior political party in coalition governments between 1986-89, associated with the Sunni Muslim sect of the Ansar and its spiritual leaders, the Mahdi family. One of the two largest parties in Sudan during democratic times, it was part of the NDA in 1995 but withdrew in 2000 and its leadership returned to Sudan from exile to operate as a political party. Its leader, Sadiq al Mahdi, was prime minister twice.

United Nations

Consolidated Inter-

Agency Appeal for Sudan An annual joint appeal by U.N. agencies to raise funds toassist populations affected by conflict and natural disaster

                                      in Sudan.

USAP                             Union of Southern African Parties, a political party comprised of several parties representing southerners living in the north. A schism in 1996-97 led to party leaders Samuel Aru Bol and Gordon Yoal returning to Khartoum, and party leader Eliaba Surur remaining in exile. Although repudiated by the party in exile, Samuel Aru signed the 1997 Khartoum Peace Agreement for USAP. In 1999 it issued a statement condemning the oil companies operating in Unity state and called on the government to suspend immediately all oil operations there.

World Relief Corp.         A U.S., Christian, non-profit organization that provides humanitarian aid, disaster, and emergency relief and is involved in community and economic development, welfare reform, refugee resettlement, and immigration issues around the world, including in Sudan.

World Vision                  An international Christian, nonprofit humanitarian relief and development organization that works with the poor and oppressed in countries worldwide, including Sudan.