Minarets in Khartoum, Sudan.
...many more in our Flickr album...
In 2006, when we were living there, the country was still called Sudan....last year, history made its course.
In 1955, the year before independence, a civil war began between Northern and Southern Sudan.
In 1972, a cessation of the north-south conflict was agreed.
In 1983, the civil war was reignited following President Gaafar Nimeiry's decision to circumvent the terms of the peace agreement.
The war went on for more than twenty years.
In
2003 and early 2004, talks between the southern rebels and the government made some progress.
John Garang, the south's peace agreement appointed
co-vice president, died in a helicopter crash on 1 August 2005, three weeks after being sworn in.
On 9 January 2011, a referendum was held worldwide, with the South Sudanese diaspora voting from the U.S.,
the U.K., Australia, Europe and East Africa. The result showed 98.9% in favour of secession.
The southern region became independent on
9 July 2011, with the name of
South Sudan. Despite this result, many crucial issues are yet unresolved. Main threats to the fragile newborn state is the dispute over the control over oil
fields in the region of
Abyei, the borders, and the issue of citizenship.
Ryszard Kapuscinski - Ebano (1998)
"E´una guerra interminabile, che si rinfocola, langue, poi torna ad esplodere. Sebbene duri da tanti anni non mi risulta che qualcuno abbia tentato di scriverne la storia. In Europa a ogni guerra sono dedicati scaffali di libri, archivi zeppi di documenti, sale speciali nei musei. In Africa non esiste niente del genere. Per lunga e grande che sia, qui la guerra sprofonda rapidamente nel dimenticatoio. Il giorno dopo le sue tracce sono già sparite: bisogna seppellire i morti, costruire nuove capanne al posto di quelle bruciate."
