According to ehistorylib, in 2005, Sudan had a population of over 40 million people. The economy in Sudan was largely agricultural, with cotton and peanuts as the main exports. Foreign relations between Sudan and other countries were strained due to the two civil wars that had taken place since 1983. In 2005, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was signed, ending the second civil war and allowing for a period of peace and stability in the country. In terms of politics, Sudan was governed by a transitional government that was led by President Omar al-Bashir. The government was based on Islamic law and included both parties from the North and South of the country. The CPA also allowed for elections to be held in 2009, which would determine the new government leadership. Despite some difficulties in transitioning to democracy, it seemed that there were promising prospects for peace and stability in Sudan during this period.
Yearbook 2005
Sudan. According to countryaah, Khartoum is the capital and one of the major cities within the country of Sudan. The agreement on a permanent ceasefire signed by the government and the South Sudanese guerrilla SPLM on New Year’s Eve 2004 was confirmed in January through a formal peace agreement. Shortly thereafter, the government also made peace with the political opposition within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and in June released Islamist leader Hasan at-Turabi, who has been jailed for more than a year for alleged coup attempt. Refugees began to return to southern Sudan, but found an already underdeveloped region devastated by 20 years of war. To rebuild Sudan, mainly the southern provinces, was estimated to cost the equivalent of US $ 8 billion, of which the government expected that oil revenues would account for a greater part. At a donor conference in Norway in April, US $ 4.5 billion was promised, which was more than twice as much as had been hoped for.
- Also see abbreviationfinder.org for how the acronym SU stands for the country of Sudan and other meanings of this two-letter abbreviation.
In July, SPLM leader John Garang took office as first vice president but died just three weeks later in a helicopter crash. The death shocked the country and led to severe unrest with hundreds of dead in Khartoum and the southern regional capital of Juba following suspicions of sabotage. Garang was succeeded by guerrilla commander Salva Kiir Mayardit. A national unity government was set up in September and shortly thereafter the first regional government for southern Sudan was formed, led by Kiir Mayardit.
While developments in the south were largely in the right direction, however, with fears of future sabotage of the peace agreement, the situation in the Western Darfur Province remained extremely serious. There, an estimated 180,000 people have been killed and 2.4 million have lost their homes since the beginning of 2003. The open fighting slowed, but government-backed militia continued to expose civilians in refugee camps to rape and other abuses. The roads in the region became so dangerous because of militias that the UN was forced to remove a large part of its staff from certain areas. The UN Security Council called for those responsible for the crimes in Darfur to be investigated. A list of 51 people was handed over to the International Criminal Court, ICC, which announced at the end of June that there was sufficient evidence of a trial.
The African Union increased its peacekeeping force in Darfur to about 7,000 men, but the task of guarding the vast area was almost hopeless. Attempts to speed up serious peace talks were hampered by fragmentation within the hostile guerrillas.
Even in eastern Sudan, there were unrest between local militia and government forces. The government accused Darfurgerillan of inflicting dissatisfaction in the area along the Red Sea.
Regional dimension
Sudan borders nine countries in a part of Africa with several regional conflicts, most notably on the Horn of Africa and in Central Africa. The conflicts in South Sudan and Darfur have some regional dimensions; At the same time, conflicts in neighboring countries have points of concern for Sudan. The peace process in South Sudan was carried out with regional mediation, and the situation there as well as in Darfur is also linked to fears of development in several neighboring countries.
The war in South Sudan was long fought with Ethiopia’s support for the SPLM, while the Khartoum government supported the liberation movement in Eritrea – which in the 1970s and 1980s was at war with the government of Ethiopia. Following Eritrea’s independence, the country has supported rebel groups in northeastern Sudan. The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) guerrilla group from 1993-1994 brought the civil war in northern Uganda to southern Sudan, partly by establishing bases and partly by attacking villages there. The Sudanese government used the LRA as a piece in the fight against SPLMA during the war, while Uganda unofficially supported the SPLA. Sudan and Uganda entered into an agreement in 1999 not to grant support to the two groups. Under the peace agreement, Sudan and Uganda have cooperated in the fight against the LRA, which has also operated from bases in Congo. South Sudan troops took part in attacks on LRA bases in Congo in 2008, along with Congolese and Ugandan forces. Peace talks between the LRA and the Ugandan government were held in 2007 in South Sudan’s capital Juba.
The war in Darfur has contributed to political destabilization and armed conflict in Chad, partly in the Central African Republic. The population of the border regions between Sudan and Chad consists largely of the same peoples, including many zaghawa, as also Chad’s President Idriss Déby belongs. In 2006, the two neighboring states accused each other of supporting rebel groups in the other country, and for a period Chad broke off diplomatic relations with Sudan following an attempt to overthrow the president. It was reported several times that Sudanese Janjaweed has operated with the Chadian militia. The conflict in the region has been called the Sahel War, and also involves the Central African Republic, which has accused Sudan of supporting local rebels there. In addition to refugees from Darfur seeking refuge in Chad, refugees from Chad have crossed the border into Darfur, and from the Central African Republic to Chad. A United Nations peacekeeping force, the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad, was deployed in 2007 to Chad and the Central African Republic, along the border with Sudan.
The peace process, and South Sudan’s detachment, also have regional consequences, where neighboring states have partly had different views on developments in Sudan, and partly have taken different positions. Sudan has had a strong ally especially in Egypt, while Ethiopia and Uganda have taken a clear stand for the liberation forces in the south, and have established close relations with the new state under the peace agreement. Kenya, which is geographically close to South Sudan, played a central and far-off neutral role during the peace process.
Renewal of the government’s mandate
Following a controversial election process that lasted from April 13 to 16, 2015, it was announced on April 27, 2015 that Sudan’s sitting government from the National Congress party was re-elected with 94.5 percent of the vote. President Omar al-Bashir, who first took power in a coup in 1989, thus continued as head of state.
The provision of Omar al-Bashir
Major demonstrations caused by food and gas shortages, as well as serious financial difficulties for Sudanese, led Omar al-Bashir to declare state of emergency in Sudan on February 22, 2019. On February 28, he resigned from the leadership of the National Congress party. The popular demonstrations continued, and on April 11, Omar al-Bashir was deposed by a military coup led by Defense Minister General Awad Ibn Ouf. He remained in power for one day, and on April 12 General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan took over the leadership of the military transitional government.
Nevertheless, Lieutenant General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (“Hemetti”) was probably the true leader of the transitional military council. He has long experience of the Darfur War and is the leader of Rapid Support Forces, which will be behind the most violent reactions to protesters in the months leading up to the civilian transitional government (and especially the June 3 massacre).
