Sudan’s 21-year civil war has long been seen as a fight between its Muslim north and its animist and Christian south. But the fighting that is wreaking havoc in the Iraq-sized Darfur region of western Sudan shows how much more fractured the country is.
Sudan has an elite which is predominantly Arab and plunders the country from the North, and takes Saudi money to fight a war against the Christian south.
As in the old conflict, the new one stems from a revolt by insurgents against poverty and neglect by the central government in faraway Khartoum, and a sense that as the peace bandwagon moves forward, they have to move fast to win a greater share of wealth and power for Darfur. The difference is that, in the past, the tribes in the impoverished northern desert and southern savanna of Darfur fought for their Islamic government and many joined the army. Now it’s Muslims fighting Muslims.
Refugees say the government’s onslaught is ferocious. The government blames the rebels for the suffering and chaos. Its tactics could be a way of signaling that the concessions it has made to the south don’t mean it will offer the same to other restive areas of the country. "Darfur has really shaken up this regime," said Ted Dagne, an Africa specialist at the Congressional Research Service. "Where do they stop this train? If you give in to the political demands of the Darfur rebels, why not to the Beja (in eastern Sudan), why not to the Nuba (in central Sudan) and a bunch of the other marginalized areas." |