Geography

Sudan, in northeast Africa, is the largest country on the continent, measuring about one-fourth the size of
the United States. Its neighbors are Chad and the Central African Republic on the west, Egypt and Libya
on the north, Ethiopia and Eritrea on the east, and Kenya, Uganda, and Democratic Republic of the
Congo on the south. The Red Sea washes about 500 mi of the eastern coast. It is traversed from north to
south by the Nile, all of whose great tributaries are partly or entirely within its borders.

Government
Military government.

History
What is now northern Sudan was in ancient times the kingdom of Nubia, which came under Egyptian rule
after 2600 B.C. An Egyptian and Nubian civilization called Kush flourished until A.D. 350. Missionaries
converted the region to Christianity in the 6th century, but an influx of Muslim Arabs, who had already
conquered Egypt, eventually controlled the area and replaced Christianity with Islam. During the 1500s a
people called the Funj conquered much of Sudan, and several other black African groups settled in the
south, including the Dinka, Shilluk, Nuer, and Azande. Egyptians again conquered Sudan in 1874, and
after Britain occupied Egypt in 1882, it took over Sudan in 1898, ruling the country in conjunction with
Egypt. It was known as the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan between 1898 and 1955.

The 20th century saw the growth of Sudanese nationalism, and in 1953 Egypt and Britain granted Sudan
self-government. Independence was proclaimed on Jan. 1, 1956. Since independence, Sudan has been
ruled by a series of unstable parliamentary governments and military regimes. Under Maj. Gen. Gaafar
Mohamed Nimeiri, Sudan instituted fundamentalist Islamic law in 1983. This exacerbated the rift between
the Arab north, the seat of the government, and the black African animists and Christians in the south.
Differences in language, religion, ethnicity, and political power erupted in an unending civil war between
government forces, strongly influenced by the National Islamic Front (NIF) and the southern rebels,
whose most influential faction is the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA). Human rights violations,
religious persecution, and allegations that Sudan had been a safe haven for terrorists isolated the country
from most of the international community. In 1995, the UN imposed sanctions against it.

On Aug. 20, 1998, the United States launched cruise missiles that destroyed a pharmaceutical
manufacturing facility in Khartoum which allegedly manufactured chemical weapons. The U.S. contended
that the Sudanese factory was financed by Islamic militant Osama bin Laden.

A Brief Respite From Civil War

Since 1999 international attention has been focused on evidence that slavery is widespread throughout
Sudan. Arab raiders from the north of the country have enslaved thousands of southerners, who are
black. The Dinka people have been the hardest-hit. Some sources point out that the raids intensified in
the 1980s along with the civil war between north and south.

Ever since Lt. Gen. Omar Bashir's military coup in 1989, the de facto ruler of Sudan had been Hassan el-
Turabi, a cleric and political leader who is a major figure in the pan-Arabic Islamic fundamentalist
resurgence. In 1999, however, Bashir ousted Turabi and placed him under house arrest. (He was freed in
Oct. 2003.) Since then Bashir has made overtures to the West, and in Sept. 2001, the UN lifted its six-
year-old sanctions. The U.S., however, still officially considers Sudan a terrorist state.
A cease-fire was declared between the Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army
(SPLA) in July 2002. During peace talks, which continued through 2003, the government agreed to a
power-sharing government for six years, to be followed by a referendum on self-determination for the
south. Fighting on both sides continued throughout the peace negotiations. In May 2004, a deal between
the government and the SPLA was signed, ending 20 years of brutal civil war that resulted in the deaths
of 2 million people.

Humanitarian Disaster in Darfur

Just as Sudan's civil war seemed to be coming to an end, another war intensified in the northwestern
Darfur region. After the government quelled a rebellion in Darfur in Jan. 2004, it allowed pro-government
militias called the Janjaweed to carry out massacres against black villagers and rebel groups in the
region. These Arab militias, believed to have been armed by the government, have killed between
200,000 and 300,000 civilians and displaced more than 1 million. While the war in the south was fought
against black Christians and animists, the Darfur conflict is being fought against black Muslims. Although
the international community has reacted with alarm to the humanitarian disaster—unmistakably the
world's worst—it has been ineffective in persuading the Sudanese government to rein in the Janjaweed.
Despite the EU and the U.S. describing the killing as genocide, and despite a UN Security Council
resolution demanding that Sudan stop the Arab militias, the killing continued throughout 2005.

On Jan. 9, 2005, after three years of negotiations, the peace deal between the southern rebels, led by
John Garang of the SPLA, and the Khartoum government to end the two-decades-long civil war was
signed, giving roughly half of Sudan’s oil wealth to the south, as well as nearly complete autonomy and
the right to secede after six years. But just two weeks after Garang was sworn in as first vice president as
part of the power-sharing agreement, he was killed in a helicopter crash during bad weather. Rioting
erupted in Khartoum, killing nearly 100. Garang’s deputy, Salva Kiir, was quickly sworn in as the new vice
president, and both north and south vowed that the peace agreement would hold.

In 2006, the slaughter in Darfur escalated, and the Khartoum government remained defiantly indifferent to
the international communities' calls to stop the violence. The 7,000 African Union (AU) peacekeepers
deployed to Darfur proved too small and ill equipped a force to prevent much of it. A fragile peace deal in
May 2006 was signed between the Sudanese government and the main Darfur rebel group; two smaller
rebel groups, however, refused to sign. The UN reported that there has in fact been a dramatic upsurge in
the violence since the agreement. The Sudanese government reneged on essential elements of the
accord, including the plan to disarm the militias and allow a UN peacekeeping force into the region to
replace the modest AU force. Khartoum eventually agreed to allow the modest AU force to remain in the
country until the end of 2006, but rejected a hybrid AU-UN peacekeeping force entering the country. In.
Jan. 2007, Sudan and Darfur rebel groups agreed to a 60-day cease-fire, which was intended to lead to
peace talks sponsored by the African Union. Libya hosted peace talks ni October, but several rebel
groups boycotted the proceedings, and the summit ended shortly after the opening ceremony. In July
2007, the UN Security Council voted unanimously to deploy as many as 26,000 peacekeepers from the
African Union and the United Nations forces to help end the violence in Darfur. The African Union
peacekeeper base in Darfur was attacked in September. Ten peacekeepers were killed. Days later, the
town was razed, leaving some 7,000 Darfuris homeless.

In Feb. 2007, the International Criminal Court at the Hague named Ahmad Harun, Sudan's deputy
minister for humanitarian affairs, and Ali Kushayb, also known as Ali Abd-al-Rahman, a militia leader, as
suspects in the murder, rape, and displacement of thousands of civilians in the Darfur region. In May, the
Court issued arrest warrants for Haroun and Ali Kosheib, a Janjaweed leader, charging them with mass
murder, rape, and other crimes. The Sudanese government refused to hand over them over to the Court.
Kushayb was arrested by Sudanese police in October 2008. He was not, however, handed over to the
ICC.
The Bush administration expanded sanctions on Sudan in May, banning 31 Sudanese companies and
four individuals from doing business in the U.S.

Atrocities Continue, Even as the International Community Pushes for Peace

In October 2007, the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) quit the national unity government, leaving
the peace agreement signed in 2005 on the brink of collapse. The SPLA claimed that the governing party,
the National Congress Party, had ignored its concerns over boundary between the north and south and
how to divide the country's oil wealth.

Sudan faced international criticism once again in January 2008, when Musa Hilal, a Janjaweed leader,
was appointed to a top government position as an adviser to the minister of federal affairs. Human Rights
Watch called Hilal "the poster child for Janjaweed atrocities in Darfur."

Government forces and the janjaweed resumed their attacks in the Darfur region in February 2008,
forcing as many as 45,000 people to flee their homes. The government claimed it was targeting the
Justice and Equality Movement, a rebel group that has become increasingly powerful and is believed to
be linked to the government of Chad. Civilians in the region, however, say the attacks have continued
after the rebels escape. The Justice and Equality Movement launched a bold attack in May, coming within
a few miles of Khartoum before being repulsed by government troops. It was the first time that the conflict
in Darfur has threatened to spill over into Khartoum.

In July 2008, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), indicted
Bashir with genocide for planning and executing the decimation of Darfur's three main ethnic tribes: the
Fur, the Masalit, and the Zaghawa. Moreno-Ocampo also said Bashir "purposefully targeted civilians" and
used "rapes, hunger, and fear" to terrorize civilians. Many observers feared that Bashir would respond to
the charges with further violence. The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Bashir in March 2009, charging
him with war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Darfur region. An indictment for genocide was
rejected by the court, and Moreno-Ocampo appealed the decision. Bashir responded by shutting down
the 13 aid agencies that operate relief camps in Sudan and assist millions of people in Darfur. The UN
said that as a result, 1.1 million people will be left without food, 1.1 million without health care, and
another 1 million without water. In February 2010, Moreno-Ocampo won his appeal and the ICC was
ordered to review the evidence to determine if Bashir should be tried for genocide. The court formally
charged him with three counts of genocide in July. It was the first time the court has charged a person
with genocide.

In July 2009, an international tribunal at The Hague redefined the border of Sudan's oil-rich Abyei region,
giving the North rights to the lucrative Heglig oil field, and the South retained rights to other large oil fields
in Abyei.

Bashir Wins Election in a Landslide

In April 2010, Bashir easily won Sudan's first multi-party elections since 1986, with 68% of the vote.
Several opposition parties boycotted the election, and international observers questioned the fairness of
it, citing ballot-box stuffing and other allegations of fraud. Bashir's supporters cite the marked
improvement in infrastructure completed during his presidency—new schools, hospitals, and roads. All
are products of the oil boom.

Salva Kiir, head of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, was reelected president of the semi-
autonomous South, taking 93% of the vote. A referendum on Southern independence is scheduled for
January 2011. President Bashir has vowed to honor the results of the vote. Many fear renewed violence if
the referendum passes, as the South is home to about 90% of the country's oil

Historic Vote in Southern Sudan

In a historic seven-day referendum that began in southern Sudan on January 9, 2011, voters were offered
two choices: continued unity with northern Sudan or secession to become a new state. The referendum
was a provision of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which ended a 22-year civil war that killed
2.5 million people and displaced 4 million. While President Bashir has said repeatedly that he will accept
the results of the referendum, he has a reputation as an untrustworthy arbitrator.

The Bush administration negotiated the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which in addition to
setting the date of the referendum also called for people in the contested region of Abyei to participate in
the vote. That vote, however, has been delayed because a decision on what constitutes a resident of
Abyei has not been reached. Tribal leaders in the region have made it clear that their loyalty lies with the
south, but there has not been a date set for a vote in Abyei. Any declaration of affiliation with the south by
Abyei could trigger an attack from the north. Abyei sits between northern and southern Sudan and has
historically served as a bridge between the two. Since voting began in southern Sudan, at least 23 people
have died in Abyei, confirming speculation that the region continues to be a matter of contention.

If southern Sudan becomes independent, Abyei's uncertainty would be only one obstacle that awaits the
fledgling state. Southern Sudan would be one of the poorest countries in the world, with half of the
population living on less than $1 per day and an adult literacy rate of less than 25%. Southern Sudan will
also need to establish a new government.