History
According to a timeline in God Grew Tired of Us, "in the 1920s, the British encourage division between the Muslim north of Sudan and the Christian, animist south. British policies in the 1920s increasingly treat the south as autonomous: Access by the northern Sudanese into the 'closed districts' of the south is curtailed, but Christian missionaries are allowed in to 'educate' the native tribes and shore up the region against Islam" (9).
Although the British colonial rule over Sudan ends in the 1950s, tension between Christians and followers of Islam continues to mount, and violence flares up after President Numeiry proclaims sharia law throughout Sudan in 1983. The historical tension between the North and South regions of Sudan spirals into a direct conflict between the Khartoum government in the North and the Sudan People's Liberation Army in the South.
Although the British colonial rule over Sudan ends in the 1950s, tension between Christians and followers of Islam continues to mount, and violence flares up after President Numeiry proclaims sharia law throughout Sudan in 1983. The historical tension between the North and South regions of Sudan spirals into a direct conflict between the Khartoum government in the North and the Sudan People's Liberation Army in the South.