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 KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) - Business leaders here are predicting that new U.S. sanctions imposed because of violence in Sudan's Darfur region will have little effect on the country's booming oil-driven economy, mostly because the measures avoid targeting key Chinese interests.
Last year, Sudan's economy grew by 12 percent, according to the International Monetary Fund. That growth was propelled by the estimated 500,000 barrels of oil produced each day — two-thirds of them bought by China.
The U.S. sanctions announced last week target 31 Sudanese firms and three individuals, including a rebel leader linked to the bloodshed in the Darfur region. More than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million forced from their homes in Darfur during four years of fighting between Sudanese forces and rebels.
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