This is, without a doubt, the worst situation in the world today. Hell isn't hot enough for these morally-challenged businessmen who assist in the genocide of these Sudanese Christians.
Monday March 25, 6:52 pm Eastern Time
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 25 (Reuters) - Talisman Energy Inc. (Toronto:TLM.TO - news) said on Monday it does not know the origin of a memo that human rights groups say shows the Canadian oil producer asked Sudan's army in 1999 to remove villages near its oil facilities in the war-torn African country.
The company, which denies any wrongdoing in Sudan's 18-year civil war, said it cannot tell if the one-page memo in Arabic is even an authentic government document because it was written on plain paper with an unreadable signature.
``There's no letterhead, the signature is just a scrawl so there's no attribution,'' said spokesman David Mann, adding that the company was still studying a faxed copy of the memo it received last week. He added that Talisman takes the issue ``very seriously.''
Human rights groups have filed the document as evidence in U.S. federal court in a lawsuit alleging Talisman has conspired with the Sudanese government in ethnic cleansing that killed or removed non-Muslim civilians living in proximity to Sudan's oil production regions.
More than 2 million people have died in the war, either directly in fighting or indirectly from hunger and disease exacerbated by the conflict. Rebels have been fighting for greater autonomy for the mostly Christian and animist south from the mostly Muslim north.
Calgary-based Talisman, one of Canada's biggest oil companies, has a 25 percent stake in Sudan's only major oil producing project, which pumps out more than 200,000 barrels of oil a day.
According to published reports, the memo labeled ``secret'' ordered military action at the company's request to ``ensure the security'' of its property and its employees -- including the elimination of villages near the oil fields.
``Our response to date has been that the allegations in this, and I'll call it an alleged memo, really run contrary to everything we have practiced in Sudan,'' Mann said.
Talisman's critics say it has prolonged Sudan's civil war by providing revenue to the government, but the company maintains it has tried to improve the situation with projects such as building schools, hospitals and roads.
A Sudanese rebel leader said on Monday fighters will continue to attack oil installations in the center of the country despite an agreement to protect civilians and civilian targets that the government had interpreted as saying the installations were off limits.