A search for oil raises the stakes in war-torn Darfur

Political and humanitarian experts say oil in Darfur could deliver much-needed development and investment to the region but that attempts to search for oil now may intensify the conflict by raising the stakes in an already war-torn area. The government has recently awarded three new oil concessions in the region.

Rebel leaders say oil exploration in Darfur should be postponed until a peace deal is signed by all parties and stability returns.

"We are still fighting for our lives and our country," said rebel commander Jar Neby, who represents a faction of the Sudan Liberation Army. "We need water right now, not oil. We can talk about these issues after peace comes."

Some political analysts believe that untapped oil reserves might have been an underlying factor in the Darfur conflict all along, explaining why a seemingly barren wasteland of western Sudan would spark such a bitter tug of war between government forces and rebels, eventually drawing the intervention of international players such as the United States, Libya and the United Nations.

"When you don't find a reasonable explanation, this is what you have to conclude," said Eltayeb Hag Ateya, head of the Peace Studies Institute at Khartoum University. "I believe there must be something else -- oil or some natural resource -- about Darfur."

Salih Osman, a human rights attorney from Darfur, said government suspicions about oil in Darfur explain why regime officials reacted so strongly to rebel attacks in the region, starting in 2003. "I fear this will only make matters worse," he said, referring to the newly expanded exploration.

The government is accused of arming Arab militias known as janjaweed to attack and destroy scores of Darfur villages over the last three years. Government officials deny supporting the janjaweed and blame rebels for the violence.

A team of Middle Eastern oil companies, including Saudi Arabia-based Al Qahtani Sons Group and Ansan Wikfs, based in Yemen, agreed in November to spend $43 million for drilling rights to a 125,000-square-mile territory. The largely uninhabited area, known as Block 12a, is north of where much of Darfur's fighting is occurring.