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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Historical basis of Southern Sudan's demand for self-determination |
Author: | Okeny, Kenneth |
Year: | 1994 |
Periodical: | Ufahamu |
Volume: | 22 |
Issue: | 1-2 |
Pages: | 89-107 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Sudan |
Subjects: | minority groups separatism |
Abstract: | The August 1991 split within the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA) has highlighted the depth of division within the movement regarding its stated goal of maintaining a united Sudan. The three rebel commanders who precipitated this development have apparently come to the conclusion that the goal of a 'united secular Sudan' is unattainable in the foreseeable future. Consequently, they have openly advocated a separate Southern Sudan. The immediate cause of this development is the determination of the Muslim fundamentalist regime of General al-Bashir and its National Islamic Front (NIF) supporters to impose 'sharia' law upon the whole country. Historically, however, Southern claims for separate Statehood have been based on the lack of any feeling of commonality of interests between peoples of the two regions, the 'Southern policy' of the Anglo-Egyptian regime during the period c. 1900-1946, and the failure of successive Arab-dominated Sudanese governments since independence to recognize and address legitimate Southern demands. The Sudanese seem to have arrived at the moment of truth, when they must make a final decision on the question of the country's identity and the role of religion in politics. Notes, ref. |