The Sudanese Human Rights Group in Khartoum has appealed to foreign companies investing in Sudan's fledgling oil industry to link their involvement to democratic reforms and human rights.

Otherwise, it says, the oil will just fuel the long-running civil war.

The call, made by the group's chairman Ghazi Suleiman during a visit to London, follows mounting criticism of Talisman, a Canadian company that is helping Sudan to extract its oil.

Since the oil began flowing last August, the pipeline has been attacked twice by rebels.

The human rights group, Amnesty International, says it's concerned about reports that thousands of people have been displaced and many hundreds killed in areas around the pipeline. The Canadian government has threatened to penalise Talisman for its role in Sudan unless it helps to end the civil war.

The government's report on the issue is due out next week.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service