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<<previous | index | next>> Glossary of Terms and AbbreviationsAGI : 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. : 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 operations : in government-held territory; and one in Nairobi, for operations in rebel-controlled territory. OLS in the south is a consortium : of 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 governance conference 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 to : assist 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.
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