Sudan --
A chronology of key
events:
1881 - Revolt against the
Turco-Egyptian administration.
1956 - Sudan becomes
independent.
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KHARTOUM
Capital lies near the confluence of the two Niles
Name translates from Arabic as
'elephant's trunk'
Population: 1.2 million |
1958 - General Abbud leads
military coup against the civilian government elected earlier in the
year
1962 - Civil war begins in
the south, led by the Anya Nya movement.
1964 - The "October Revolution"
overthrows Abbud and a national government is established
1969 - Jafar Numayri leads
the "May Revolution" military coup.
1971 - Sudanese Communist
Party leaders executed after short-lived coup against Numayri
South gets autonomy
1972 - Under the Addis Ababa
peace agreement between the government and the Anya Nya the south becomes
a self-governing region.
1978 - Oil discovered in
Bentiu in southern Sudan.
1983 - Civil war breaks out
again in the south involving government forces and the Sudan People's Liberation
Movement (SPLM), led by John Garang.
Islamic law imposed
1983 - President Numayri
declares the introduction of Sharia (Islamic law).
1985 - After widespread popular
unrest Numayri is deposed by a group of officers and a Transitional Military
Council is set up to rule the country.
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CIVIL WAR
 Conflict pitted Muslim north against Christian,
animist south
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1986 - Coalition government
formed after general elections, with Sadiq al-Mahdi as prime minister.
1988 - Coalition partner
the Democratic Unionist Party drafts cease-fire agreement with the SPLM,
but it is not implemented.
1989 - National Salvation
Revolution takes over in military coup.
1993 - Revolution Command
Council dissolved after Omar al-Bashir is appointed president.
US strike
1995 - Egyptian President
Mubarak accuses Sudan of being involved in attempt to assassinate him in
Addis Ababa.
1998 - US launches missile
attack on a pharmaceutical plant in Khartoum, alleging that it was making
materials for chemical weapons.
1998 - New constitution endorsed
by over 96% of voters in referendum.
1999 - President Bashir dissolves
the National Assembly and declares a state of emergency following a power
struggle with parliamentary speaker, Hassan al-Turabi.
Advent of oil
1999 - Sudan begins to export
oil.
2000 September - Governor
of Khartoum issues decree barring women from working in public places.
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 A US missile targeted a Khartoum pharmaceutical
plant in 1998
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2000 September - President
Bashir meets for the first time ever leaders of opposition National Democratic
Alliance in the Eritrean capital, Asmara.
2000 December - Bashir re-elected
for another five years in elections boycotted by main opposition
parties.
2001 February - Islamist
leader Hassan al-Turabi arrested a day after his party, the Popular National
Congress, signed a memorandum of understanding with the southern rebel Sudan
People's Liberation Army (SPLA).
Food shortages
2001 March - UN's World Food
Programme struggles to raise funds to feed 3 million facing famine.
2001 April - SPLA rebels
threaten to attack international oil workers brought in to help exploit vast
new oil reserves. Government troops accused of trying to drive civilians
and rebels from oilfields.
2001 April-May - Police continue
arrests of members of Turabi's Popular National Congress party (PNC).
2001 25 May - Police use
tear gas to disperse thousands of demonstrators at funeral of Ali Ahmed El-Bashir
from opposition Islamist Popular National Congress party, who died from wounds
sustained while being arrested.
Peace plan
2001 June - Failure of Nairobi
peace talks attended by President al-Bashir and rebel leader John
Garang.
|
 Civilians in the south's former conflict
zone crave lasting peace |
2001 July - Government says
it accepts a Libyan/Egyptian initiative to end the civil war. The plan includes
a national reconciliation conference and reforms.
2001 September - UN lifts
largely symbolic sanctions against Sudan. They were imposed in 1996 over
accusations that Sudan harbored suspects who attempted to kill Egyptian President
Hosni Mubarak.
2001 October - US President
Bush names Senator John Danforth as special envoy to tackle Sudanese
conflict.
2001 November - US extends
unilateral sanctions against Sudan for another year, citing its record on
terrorism and rights violations.
2001 December - More than
14,500 slaves - mainly blacks from the south - are said freed over past six
months following campaigning by rights activists.
Ceasefire deal
2002 January - SPLA joins
forces with rival militia group, Sudan People's Defence Force, to pool resources
in campaign against government in Khartoum.
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PEACE IN SOUTH
Eight-year process ended with deal to end conflict
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Government and SPLA sign landmark
ceasefire agreement providing for six-month renewable ceasefire in central
Nuba Mountains - a key rebel stronghold.
2002 20 July - After talks
in Kenya, government and SPLA sign Machakos Protocol on ending 19-year civil
war. Government accepts right of south to seek self-determination after six-year
interim period. Southern rebels accept application of Shariah law in
north.
2002 27 July - President
al-Bashir and SPLA leader John Garang meet face-to-face for the first time,
through the mediation of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.
2002 October - Government
and SPLA agree to ceasefire for duration of negotiations. Despite this,
hostilities continue.
Peace in south inches
closer
2002 November - Negotiations
stall over allocation of government and civil service posts, but both sides
agree to observe ceasefire.
2003 February - Rebels in
western region of Darfur rise up against government, claiming the region
is being neglected by Khartoum.
2003 October - PNC leader
Turabi released after nearly three years in detention and ban on his party
is lifted.
Darfur crisis
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DARFUR
 UN accused
government-backed militias of massive abuses against civilians and refugees
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2004 January - Army moves
to quell rebel uprising in western region of Darfur; hundreds of thousands
of refugees flee to neighbouring Chad.
2004 March - UN official
says pro-government Arab "Janjaweed" militias are carrying out systematic
killings of African villagers in Darfur.
Army officers and opposition
politicians, including Islamist leader Hassan al-Turabi, are detained over
an alleged coup plot.
2004 May - Government and
southern rebels agree on power-sharing protocols as part of a peace deal
to end their long-running conflict. The deal follows earlier breakthroughs
on the division of oil and non-oil wealth.
2004 September - UN envoy
says Sudan has not met targets for disarming pro-government Darfur militias
and must accept outside help to protect civilians. US Secretary of State
Colin Powell describes Darfur killings as genocide.
Government says it has foiled coup
plot by supporters of Islamist leader Hassan al-Turabi.
Final peace deal
2005 January - Government
and southern rebels sign peace deal to end their long-running conflict. The
agreement includes a permanent ceasefire and accords on wealth and power
sharing.
UN report accuses the government
and militias of systematic abuses in Darfur, but stops short of calling the
violence genocide.
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JOHN GARANG
 Ex-rebel joined government as first vice
president |
2005 March - UN Security
Council authorises sanctions against those who violate ceasefire in Darfur.
Council also votes to refer those accused of war crimes in Darfur to
International Criminal Court.
2005 April - International
donors pledge $4.5bn (£2.38bn) in aid to help southern Sudan to recover
from decades of civil war.
2005 June - Government and
exiled opposition grouping - National Democratic Alliance (NDA) - sign
reconciliation deal allowing NDA into power-sharing administration.
President frees Islamist leader
Hassan al-Turabi, who was detained in 2004 over an alleged coup plot.
2005 9 July - Former southern
rebel leader John Garang is sworn in as first vice president. A constitution
which gives a large degree of autonomy to the south is signed.
2005 1 August - Government
announces death of vice president and former rebel leader John Garang in
an air crash. He is succeeded by Salva Kiir. Garang's death sparks deadly
clashes in the capital between southern Sudanese and northern Arabs.
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