Sudan
Military dictatorships promulgating an Islamic government have mostly run the country since independence from the UK in 1956. The country has emerged from a two-decade civil war pitting black Christians and animists in the south -- saying they were fighting oppression and marginalization -- against the Arab-Muslims of the north, led by the regime in Khartoum. The war cost at least 1.5 million lives in war and famine-related deaths, as well as the displacement of millions of others. The country's infrastructure was also shattered.
After two years of negotiations, in January 2005 the government and the main southern rebel movement, the SPLM/A, signed a comprehensive peace accord. The deal provides for a high degree of autonomy for the south, which will also share oil revenue equally with the north. A power-sharing constitution was signed in July 2005; after a six-year period of autonomy for the south, an independence referendum will be held.
In early August 2005, former SPLM/A leader John Garang was killed in a helicopter crash. Garang, the architect of the January peace deal, died just 3 weeks after becoming first vice president of the unity government. In mid-August, southern Sudan's second largest armed group announced that it would cooperate fully with the new First Vice President Salva Kiir and place its forces at his disposal. The splinter group, which split from Kiir's Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) in 1991, said at a swearing-in ceremony for the former rebel to become part of a coalition government designed to seal an end to more than 2 decades of civil war in the south. This indicated a major hurdle to the implementation of the January 2005 peace deal had been overcome.
While Khartoum and the southern rebels bargained their way toward peace, a separate conflict broke out in the western region of Darfur in early 2003, when rebels seeking greater autonomy began an insurrection. More than 1.5 million people have fled their homes and tens of thousands of people have been killed. Pro-government Arab militias are accused of carrying out a campaign of ethnic cleansing against non-Arab groups in the region. Although Arabic is the official language and Islam is the state religion, Sudan has a large non-Arabic speaking and non-Muslim population which has rejected attempts by the government in Khartoum to impose Islamic Sharia law on the country as a whole.
Despite considerable natural resources (oil, gold, cotton and large areas of arable land), Sudan is among the world's (and region's) poorest countries. Traditionally, its economy has been mainly agricultural - a mix of subsistence farming and production of cash crops such as cotton and gum arabic. With the start of significant oil production (and exports) beginning in late 1999, however, Sudan's economy is changing dramatically, with oil export revenues now accounting for around 70% of Sudan's total export earnings. Sudan no longer relies on expensive imported oil products, which has helped the country's trade balance, while foreign investment has started to flow into the country (as of July 2001, total foreign investment stood at $7 billion). The country's currency, the dinar, has remained relatively stable since 1999, at around 257 dinars per U.S. dollar (recently it fell to 264 dinars per U.S. dollar). Sudan's economy shows signs of turning the corner after many years of poor performance. Sudan's economic performance has been strong over the past few years, and inflation has slowed dramatically. Exports have grown sharply since 1999, and the merchandise trade balance has turned from negative to positive.
Despite its economic progress, Sudan still faces developmental obstacles, including a limited infrastructure and external debt-to-GDP ratio of about 128%. Sudan's relatively new reliance on oil export revenues makes the country vulnerable to world oil price fluctuations, such as the sharp fall in oil prices since September 2001.
The United States imposed economic sanctions against Sudan in November 1997, prohibiting trade between the two countries, as well as investment by United States businesses in Sudan. At the time, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright stated that the sanctions were intended to "deprive the regime in Khartoum of the financial and material benefits of U.S. trade and investment, including investment in Sudan's petroleum sector." In February 2000, the Clinton administration broadened the sanctions to include a prohibition against U.S. citizens and companies conducting business with the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company (GNPOC), an international consortium of petroleum companies currently extracting oil from Sudan. The sanctions, however, do not apply to the foreign individual parent companies of GNPOC. In October 2000, the United States continued its efforts to isolate Sudan by successfully lobbying African nations to deny Sudan a regional seat on the United Nations Security Council. Since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, however, U.S.-Sudanese relations improved somewhat, as the United States attempts to encourage Sudanese cooperation in the war against terrorism.
Travel to Sudan is not advised at this time. While the civil war is officially over, tensions remain, as evidenced in rioting in Khartoum after the plane crash that killed former rebel leader John Garang, newly incorporated into the government. In addition, Sudan has been accused of harboring terrorist groups and the government's control over its own police and soldiers may be limited. Police response to unrest is brutal.
Ethiopia, Egypt and the United States have accused Sudan of harboring terrorists who attempted to assassinate Egyptian President Mubarak in Ethiopia in June 1995. The Sudanese government issued a formal denial of any responsibility in the assassination attempt on Mubarak. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) unanimously adopted Resolution 1044, which accused Sudan of supporting terrorism, and condemned Sudan's role in the Mubarak assassination attempt. Resolution 1044 demanded the extradition of three people implicated in the assassination attempt. The UNSC adopted Resolution 1054 in 1996, which imposed diplomatic sanctions against Sudan for its failure to comply to the terms of Resolution 1044. Sudan's continuing failure to comply with the extradition demands led to the UNSC's passing of Resolution 1070 (in August 1996), which banned international flights operated by Sudan Airways.
