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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The campaign to persuade U.S. companies
and investors to halt the flow of dollars to war-torn Sudan
through China and other countries is making significant
progress, activists say. ADVERTISEMENT
U.S. sanctions on Sudan, where conflict in the Darfur region has
been branded "genocide" by President George W. Bush, already
limit most transactions, though humanitarian aid and
agricultural assistance have been allowed.
But U.S. institutional investors, mutual funds, and Warren
Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway have billions of dollars invested
in companies that operate in -- or have ties to -- Sudan,
particularly the oil business.
Activists have lobbied for investors to dump shares and bonds in
PetroChina Co. Ltd., whose parent company China National
Petroleum Corp. is helping Sudan tap its oil reserves, as well
as India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd. and Malaysia's Petronas
"The burgeoning Sudan divestment movement has already
facilitated a response from companies operating in Sudan,
institutional investors and mutual fund managers," said Adam
Sterling, director of the Sudan Divestment Task Force.
He cited 19 U.S. states, nine cities including Los Angeles, and
54 universities that are beginning to divest from Sudan.
Sterling also noted major companies, such as Britain's Rolls-
Royce, have withdrawn.
Some $3.5 billion of foreign direct investment flowed into Sudan
last year, a jump of 53 percent over 2005.
However, after the first quarter of 2006 when almost $1.6
billion entered, investment dropped to below $700 million in
each of the next three quarters, according to International
Monetary Fund figures.
International experts estimate some 200,000 people have been
killed in Darfur and another 2.5 million have been driven from
their homes since violence erupted in 2003, prompting Bush to
label it "genocide," a term other countries have avoided.