Sudan 1999

The population of Sudan in 1999 was estimated at around 29.2 million people, with a growth rate of 2.5%. The economy of Sudan was largely driven by its services sector, which accounted for around 49% of the country’s GDP. This was supplemented by the manufacturing and agricultural industries. Foreign relations in 1999 were largely positive, with the country enjoying strong ties to many African nations as well as the wider international community. Politically, Sudan had been a multi-party democracy since 1986 when it formally adopted a democratic system. The ruling party at this time was the National Islamic Front (NIF), which had been in power since 1989. In 1999, Omar al-Bashir was President and had been since 1989. See ethnicityology for Sudan in the year of 2018.

Yearbook 1999

Sudan 1999

Sudan. Visit Countryaah official website to get information about the capital city of Sudan. The regime was partially rid of the stamp as an international pariah. The EU resumed contacts, citing democratic and humanitarian progress. Sudan also signed the chemical weapons ban agreement.

  • Also see Abbreviationfinder.org to see the acronym of SD which stands for Sudan and other definitions of this 3-letter abbreviation.

Map of Sudan Khartoum in English

Former President Jafar Numayri returned after 14 years in exile and hinted at ambitions to start a new political career.

Islamist leader Hasan at-Turabi appeared to take over in a power struggle within the ruling National Congress by being appointed to lead a new central party body. President Omar al-Bashir was nominated for the party’s candidate in the 2001 election, but his role as party chairman was most symbolic. However, in the days before the parliament in December to pass a law on diminishing power for the president, al-Bashir struck back by dissolving parliament and announcing a three-month state of emergency. On New Year’s Eve, the government resigned to give al-Bashir free hands to clear out supporters of at-Turabi.

In the war in the south, relative silence prevailed. The ceasefire that has prevailed since 1998 in parts of the region continued. In November, the government signed a peace agreement with the Umma Party and its leader as-Sadiq al-Mahdi, prime minister before the 1989 coup. Another backlash for the opposition became a settlement in December with Uganda, when both governments pledged to stop supporting armed resistance movements in each other’s countries. The South Sudanese SPLA guerrilla, dominant within the NDA, has been heavily dependent on being able to retreat into Ugandan land and maintain bases there.

Sudan also signed normalized relations with Egypt, Eritrea and Congo (Kinshasa). On a visit to Cairo, al-Bashir condemned rival at-Turabi for his attempt to establish a radical Islamic world order.

The UN Human Rights Council conducted its regular review of the human rights situation (UPR) in May. Sudan accepted a number of Council recommendations on ratification of the UN Torture Convention and measures to prevent torture and degrading treatment. But Sudan also refused to remove provisions on impunity in the 2010 National Security Act, independent investigation and prosecution of violations of international law, as well as human rights violations committed by the intelligence service NISS, the army and police.

Authorities continued to refuse to comply with 5 arrest warrants issued by the ICC against Sudanese, including 2 against President al-Bashir for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Darfur. The intelligence service NISS was involved in a large number of violent attacks on opposites as well as suppression of freedom of speech and assembly.

In Darfur, the conflict entered its 13th year. In January 2016, the government launched a major offensive in the Jebel Marra region, where until May 2016, coordinated operations were conducted on the ground and in the air. The rainy season then made land operations impossible, but the bombing continued until September. AU and UN representatives were barred from access to the region. A large number of violations of international law and human rights were recorded and documented. Furthermore, at least 30 probable chemical weapons attacks were collected.

In April 2016, the Sudan Revolutionary Front unilaterally extended a ceasefire from October 2015 by another 6 months. In June, al-Bashir declared a unilateral 4-month ceasefire in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan. It remained in October until the end of the year. Despite the ceasefire, both the government and the SPLM-N conducted sporadic military attacks in the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-North (SPLA-N) controlled areas. Many attacks targeted civilians and consisted in hindering humanitarian assistance to the civilian population.

In January 2017, US President Obama raised a host of sanctions against Sudan, and in October, Donald Trump raised most remaining. Sudan’s participation in Saudi Arabia’s war on Yemen, the US government’s desire for a larger share of the economic cake in Sudan and intensive lobbying had borne fruit.

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