Grade book lick-clack the rattlebag

THE SECOND CIVIL WAR 
Violence restarted in the early 1980s, when large oil reserves were discovered on the 
border between the north and south. Money from oil constitutes a large part of Sudan’s 
economy, so this was an extremely important discovery. President Gaafar Nimeiry 
attempted to seize complete control of the oil fields for the north. He also declared 
Sudan an all-Muslim nation. He began to enforce the strict Muslim laws known as 
Sharia Law. 
In reaction to these provocations,3 a new resistance group formed in the south, called 
the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA). The SPLA, unlike the earlier Southern 
Sudan Liberation Movement, campaigned for a united Sudan. For a while, it looked like 
the north might agree to a more balanced system of government. But in 1989, the 
politically and religiously extreme Omar al-Bashir seized control and made himself 
head of all parts of the government. The south lost hope for a quick solution. 
[10]As violence grew, another crisis hit Sudan: a famine. An extreme drought led to 
food shortages that coincided4 disastrously with the ongoing civil war. The drought and 
famine exacerbated5 the suffering in the country.
The two sides finally reached an agreement in 2005. It was called the Comprehensive 
Peace Agreement. The agreement declared that the south would live under relative 
independence for six years, when it would hold an election to decide whether to stay 
unified with the north or leave permanently. It was also agreed that any profits from the 
oil reserves on the border would be divided equally between the north and the south.Q2 

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CONFLICT IN FOCUS: THE DARFUR REGION 
A western region of Sudan known as Darfur became especially dangerous during the 
Second Civil War. Violent events in the area spiraled into a full-blown genocide6 in 
2003, causing thousands of deaths and producing millions of refugees.7 
During the genocide, the Sudanese government exploited8 existing ethnic conflicts in 
Darfur. Government forces killed 300,000 non-Arabic Darfurians and displaced two 
million more. Because of the ethnic motivation behind these killings, the international 
community labeled the atrocities9 a genocide. 
The Darfur Peace Agreement came in 2006, but numerous rebel groups rejected it. 
Government attempts to end the fighting never fully succeeded.