A Little About Sudan

The history of Sudan goes very deep into history and pre-history. There is evidence of not only habitation as far back as 60,000 years but conflict during the twelfth millennium BC. Sudan is home to the Nubians, who once toppled the Pharaohs and ruled Egypt.

In more recent times Sudan was ruled by the Turks then the British along with the Egyptians. The British held Sudan until 1956 when the Sudanese people gained independence and since that time the country has been in a state of civil war. There has been some intermission but generally for that last 60 or so years the state of Sudan has only known conflict. An entire generation has endured through what most of us could not conceive.

Unknown to much of us Sudan is an extremely diverse country. In the most general terms the culture is mostly Muslim, about 75% followed by Christian and then various other tribal denominations. Each of the three are split into a variety of different tribes and clans who have their own agendas in the social and political spectrum of Sudan.

The UN has been on the ground in Sudan since 2004 and a peace agreement was formulated in 2005. UN resolution 1590, 24 March 2005, tasked UNMIS with supporting the Government of Sudan and the SPLM/A (Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army)in the implementation of the peace agreement.

Now one must understand that the UN is in Sudan at the invitation of the Sudanese government. The UN has no executive powers and could be booted whenever the government of Sudan wants to.

Then there is of course Darfur the most Western state and one that everyone who follows the news has heard about. Darfur remains in conflict and as a result the UN has ceased sending police officers into this region. Because of the events in Darfur in the last 4 or 5 years the International Criminal Court in the Hague has discusssed issuing and arrest warrant for the head of the Sudanese government. This issuance could potentially threaten the UN mission in Sudan and as I write this tonight CBC reports that the ICC has issued that warrant.

Our deployment to Sudan has been in limbo since this announcement so tomorrow should have interesting news for all of us.