Sudan:Sudan's current oil-fuelled boom undermines efforts to pressure the government over Darfur, writes Rob Crillyin Khartoum.
A new city is emerging on the banks of the Nile. Khartoum's minarets and historic souks are giving way to glass-encased office blocks and luxury hotels as an oil-fuelled boom reshapes the skyline.
A growing middle class drive shiny Toyotas on newly laid roads despite the country's pariah status and a raft of economic sanctions.
Campaigners fear Sudan's new-found prosperity is undermining efforts to isolate the government over Darfur.
Nick Donovan, of the Aegis Trust, said: "It insulates Khartoum from some forms of economic pressure. The high oil prices and the fact that some countries are willing to buy oil from Sudan - which not all are - means the government can act with impunity."
More than 200,000 people have died in the conflict in Sudan's western region since rebels rose against the government more than four years ago.
Today, some four million people are entirely dependent on aid.
Earlier this year the US strengthened sanctions imposed a decade ago. The US Treasury barred 31 Sudanese companies from American and international financial institutions.
Yet the conflict and sanctions seems a long way from the glitzy shopping malls and marble floored hotels of Khartoum.
Here the official growth rate is 9 per cent, making it one of Africa's fastest growing economies. The signs of prosperity are everywhere.
A 19-storey hotel on the riverfront is weeks from opening. Shaped like a traditional sailing dhow, the Al Fatih Tower, built with £40 million of Libyan money, resembles Dubai's iconic Burj Al Arab.
Western aid workers sip £3 lattes at a string of new coffee shops. The city's first five-star hotel opened earlier this year.
Business at the Al Salam Rotana is so good, said its general manager, Mohamed Ali, that a second is being built. "The potential for growth and the lack of existing infrastructure means there is a very high demand for what we offer."
It was built largely with money from the United Arab Emirates.
In all, foreign investment has quadrupled since 1996 to about $2.3 billion last year according the Ministry of Investment.
The Chinese connection is well known. The country has invested $7 billion in dams, roads and bridges as it seeks to keep a hold on two thirds of Sudan's oil.
But more and more investors are coming from the oil-rich Gulf states. Record oil prices means they have record profits and are looking for new opportunities to invest, said Eltegani Ahmed, an adviser to Sudan's minister of finance.
A two-year-old peace deal between Khartoum and southern rebels, ending decades of civil war, has also helped attract new money.
While the West was obsessed by Darfur, businessmen in the Middle East were less likely to see it as a risk, Mr Eltegani said.
"We have the problem of Darfur and to some extent it has affected direct investment. But I feel we are close to finding a solution and this is reflected by the foreign investors coming here."
Ahmed Badawi, who runs a public relations firm handling construction and IT companies, said sanctions had made little difference to life in the city today.
"US sanctions worked beautifully up to 2003. There were petrol queues everywhere and bread was rationed. Then oil production reached a critical mass and everything changed," he said.
Mr Badawi (39) grew up in the UK. Last year he returned to Khartoum to cash in on the boom. "The pull was always emotional but now there's a business case."