In Sudan, 2011 was dominated by the secession of its southern region in July. Despite considerable apprehension, Sudan abided by the terms of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and accepted the overwhelming majority vote of the South Sudanese for secession in the January referendum. The Sudanese president, Omar al-Bashir, attended the July 9 independence day celebrations in Juba, the new country’s capital, and the swearing in of Salva Kiir Mayardit, its new president. Once the formalities were over, however, both countries faced the difficult task of settling unresolved issues, principally those of oil revenue, water resources, borders, and debt. (See Sidebar.)
Southern Sudanese independence had profound implications for Sudan’s politics, economy, and security. Its success in gaining autonomy weakened the power of Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party. Key opposition parties—the Ummah Party, the Popular Congress Party, and the Sudanese Communist Party—pushed for increased political and economic reform, inspired by events known as the Arab Spring throughout North Africa and the Middle East and underscored by frequent popular demonstrations against inflation and high prices. In May the government established a consultative committee to discuss constitutional reforms.
Rebel militias in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states, often led by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement North (SPLM–N), stepped up activities against the Khartoum government. Alluding to the obvious connection to the SPLM-led government of South Sudan, the opposition referred to them as the “New South.” As in the earlier case of Darfur, the Khartoum government launched a brutal campaign to quell resistance in those states, deploying air bombardment, tanks, and sophisticated weaponry. By December more than 400,000 people had been displaced, with many fleeing into the Nuba Mountains, South Sudan, and Ethiopia. Such ruthless military action revived international human rights campaigns against President Bashir, against whom there was an outstanding International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for war crimes in Darfur. In December the ICC prosecutor sought another arrest warrant, this time for Sudan’s defense minister, Abdel Rahim Muhammad Hussein, for allegedly having committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.
In July some progress appeared to have been made toward settling conflict in Darfur when the Khartoum government and one rebel faction, the Liberation and Justice Movement, signed the Darfur Peace Agreement (also known as the Doha Agreement). Its terms included victim compensation, power sharing in both federal and state government, the establishment of a new Darfur Regional Authority, and a future referendum to determine its status within the state. Other rebels groups, however, refused to sign. In November the SPLM-N and three of the Darfur rebel groups that did not sign the agreement, including the powerful Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), announced that they had formed an alliance. Known as the Revolutionary Forces Front, the alliance aimed to overthrow the Khartoum government. In late December JEM leader Khalil Ibrahim was killed by Sudanese army troops.
Meanwhile, Sudan faced the task of restructuring its political and economic landscape. A major problem concerned recovery from the loss of its oil wealth. Three-quarters of the oil that had hitherto fueled its prosperity derived from the south. Under the 2005 CPA the two Sudans had shared equally the revenue generated from southern oil, but under the new order northern policy makers calculated a 36% shortfall in their budget. They expected to replace much of this through negotiations concerning South Sudan payments for access to the north’s pipelines, refineries, and export terminal. Further, policy makers renewed emphasis on agriculture, which accounted for one-third of the GNP and supported more than two-thirds of the population. They also focused on increasing mining. Gold was the second most valuable export. The surge in world prices had spurred a gold rush in some remote desert areas, involving small artisanal prospectors as well as several international conglomerates with millions of dollars to invest in mineral exploration.