Briton involved in Sudan oil drill
9 June 2005
Channel 4 News
A Channel 4 News investigation has discovered that the Khartoum government has signed a 25-year contract with a consortium to drill for oil in southern Sudan. And the man behind the deal is a British citizen. Jonathan Miller reports.
What a place to be looking for oil.
Say Darfur, we think genocide, ethnic cleansing. But to Khartoum and its corporate partners, deep below dustbowl Darfur lie abundant hidden riches.
In 2003, as Sudanese government forces and their murderous militias hounded black Africans from their homes, Khartoum signed a deal to drill for oil in Darfur.
In April this year, with the burning and killing still going, the oil minister announced they had struck oil. A potential windfall for a pariah regime and its friends.
So what on earth does the human misery of war torn Darfur have to do with the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea? Well, the man who was behind the Darfur oil deal lives here. Right here, in fact, in this multi-million pound mansion. Until two years ago he was an American citizen. Now though, he’s British. His name: Friedhelm Eronat …
Reporter: Jonathan Miller
Producer: Adrian Gatton
Director: Rob Lemkin
Archive of the report available via ITN Source (Ref: T09060556). See this Channel 4 News report again (free of charge) by clicking on this link.
Adrian Gatton 