In 1989 a group of army officers, led by General Omar al-Bashir, seized power in Sudan and ended three years of
democracy and an elected
parliament.
This was more than just another military
coup. Behind
the general was a group called the Islamic Liberation
Front, led by Hassan al-Turabi. This group wanted to
turn Sudan into a more radical
Islamic country. Other
former governments had introduced
Shari'ah, or
Islamic Law, and persecuted non-Muslim minorities. Bashir's
government went further. They
arrested and tortured the opposition, effectively imposed a ban on
alcohol and mixed social gatherings, sent Muslim missionaries into the south, and recruited volunteers into Islamic militias for the fight in the war.
Sudan has hosted radical Arab and Islamic groups from other countries. This practice earned them the censure of the United States, which in 1993 put them on the list of countries it accuses of supporting terrorism.
Sudan under this new fundamentalist order is still not
as strict as many Muslim countries. Although women
wear headscarves and conform to the Islamic dress
codes, they are often colourful and brightly designed
when compared to the drab blue and black veils you
might see in Afghanistan, or Jordan.
The current conflict in Sudan is fueled by a number of
factors - race, religion and money. The discovery of
large oil supplies in the country has
attracted western oil producers, and income generated by these wells is being used by the Sudanese government to fund
the war effort. Sudan now has the resources to manufacture its own small arms and military vehicles.
Sudan is the home of a lucrative slave
trade. People displaced by the war, or simply in the wrong place at the wrong time are being kidnapped and sold into slavery. Western organizations have been attempting to buy the freedom of large numbers of slaves, but this policy is
seen by many to be exacerbating the problem.