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bugsy · 02-06-2007, 10:02 PM

Welcome to The HistoryChannel.co.uk :: Sudan

The historical context
Northern Sudan in ancient times was more commonly known as 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 the 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.

Due to the growth of Sudan nationalism in the twentieth century Britain and Egypt granted the country its own government in 1953 and it was declared on January 1st 1956. Since the declaration, it has been ruled by a string of volatile parliamentary governments and military regimes. Major. General Gaafar Mohamed Nimeiri, instituted fundamentalist Islamic law in 1983 in Sudan and it is this that aggravated the schism between the North (Arab), the seat of the government, and the South (black African animists and Christians). This led to an relentless civil war between government forces, intensely influenced by the National Islamic Front (NIF), and the southern rebels, whose dominant faction is the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA). It also has been implied that Sudan had been a safe haven for terrorists and this isolated the country the most from the international community. Unsurprisingly therefore the UN imposed sanctions against it in 1995.
Ever since 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 key 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 five-year-old sanctions.

02-06-2007, 10:02 PM	#25 (permalink)
bugsy Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 629	Welcome to The HistoryChannel.co.uk :: Sudan The historical context Northern Sudan in ancient times was more commonly known as 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 the 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. Due to the growth of Sudan nationalism in the twentieth century Britain and Egypt granted the country its own government in 1953 and it was declared on January 1st 1956. Since the declaration, it has been ruled by a string of volatile parliamentary governments and military regimes. Major. General Gaafar Mohamed Nimeiri, instituted fundamentalist Islamic law in 1983 in Sudan and it is this that aggravated the schism between the North (Arab), the seat of the government, and the South (black African animists and Christians). This led to an relentless civil war between government forces, intensely influenced by the National Islamic Front (NIF), and the southern rebels, whose dominant faction is the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA). It also has been implied that Sudan had been a safe haven for terrorists and this isolated the country the most from the international community. Unsurprisingly therefore the UN imposed sanctions against it in 1995. Ever since 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 key 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 five-year-old sanctions.