Bush Sanctions Against Sudan's Food Supply Are a "Death Sentence" Says Sudan's Ambassador

June 8, 2007 (LPAC)--Eight of the 31 companies in Sudan that have been targetted for unilateral economic sanctions by the Bush Administration are involved in agriculture or the food supply. On May 29, President George Bush announced sanctions on three named Sudanese individuals, and 31 companies, consisting of a ban on doing business with any U.S. company or bank. The eight are:

Arab Sudanese Blue Nile Agricultural Company
Arab Sudanese Seed Company
Arab Sudanese Vegetable Oil Company
Guneid Sugar Company Limited
New Halfa Sugar Factory Company Limited
Sennar Sugar Company Limited
Sudan Gezira Board
Sudanese Sugar Production Company Limited

The Gezira Board relates to one of the most productive agriculture regions in all of Africa. Four sugar companies are targeted. Sudanese Ambassador to the U.S., John Ukec Lueth Ukec, during a June 2 interview on the weekly internet radio program,, called the action "A death sentence." He pointed out that thousands of Sudanese are trying to return home from surrounding nations: "...our refugees are coming back ...all these people are coming back! They have no food, but these agricultural programs that produce grain, produce wheat, produce sugar--these are the ones targeted. [by the sanctions].... So where do these people eat? They say that they are putting the sanctions on the government," but the sanctions hit the population.

"Those sanctions affect everything in my country. It actually destroys the peace which was built by the rest of the world, including us. It destroys the peace, because peace needs constructive development....

"Those who are in the camps, they will not get the bread, because these companies are targeted. by the sanctions. Those who are far away, they can not be reached, because the spare parts for the trains or the vehicles we have, can not be provided.

"This is a devastation ... what I said is: They are crippling my government. They are crippling and killing my people. It is a death sentence to my people. At a time when we really need help so that we build democracy."

Among other Sudanese companies newly sanctioned are two pharmaceutical firms (Wafra Pharma Laboratories, and Alfarachem Company Ltd.); four infrastructure enterprises (Sudan Advanced Railways, Advanced Engineering Works, Advanced Mining Works Company Limited, Sudan Telecommunications Company Ltd.); and five petrochemical companies. The full list is available from the.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson gave as the reason for the broad sweep of companies targeted.: "These companies have supplied cash to the Bashir regime, enabling it to purchase arms and further fuel the fighting in Darfur."