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Period: to
Late 1970s
Late 1970s: Repeated violations of the Addis Ababa Agreement by the north lead to increased unrest in the south. -
Period: to
May 1983
May 1983: Battalion 105, stationed at Bor and composed mostly of ex-Anyanya troops, is attacked after refusing to transfer to the north. Led by Kerubino Bol, the battalion flees to Ethiopia. -
Period: to
June 1983
June 1983: The Sudanese government officially abolishes the Addis Ababa Agreement and divides the south into three regions. The southern regional government is dissolved. President Nimeiry institutes a bold Islamicization campaign, transforming Sudan into a Muslim Arab state. Mutinies occur throughout the south and rebel forces grow. -
Period: to
July 1983
July 1983: The Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA), led by John Garang, forms in Ethiopia. -
Period: to
September 1983
September 1983: Nimeiry issues a set of decrees, known as the September Laws, imposing sharia law throughout the country. In Valentino's story, these laws are realized by the appearance of a handless man, punished for stealing in Khartoum, "who in 1983 brought the first portents of war to our village." -
Period: to
Mid-1980s
Mid-1980s: Civil war rages through the south. The SPLA battles government forces and attempts to gain control. Raids by the murahaleen – government-armed Arab militias – reach their peak. Villages throughout the south are repeatedly attacked and destroyed. Slavery becomes widespread. As villages are ransacked and survivors flee, the so-called "Lost Boys" begin their walks across southern Sudan into Ethiopia. -
Period: to
Late 1980s
Late 1980s: President Nimeiry is deposed and Sadiq al-Mahdi rises to power. Various peace negotiation attempts between al-Mahdi and the SPLA fail as the conflict worsens. -
Period: to
1989
1989: As al-Mahdi moves toward signing certain peace agreements, he is ousted in a coup and Omar al-Bashir seizes power. Al-Bashir is supported by the fundamentalist National Islamic Front (NIF), headed by hard-line Islamist Hassan al-Turabi. The new government fiercely enforces Islamic code throughout Sudan, banning trade unions, political parties, and other "non-religious" institutions. -
Period: to
1989
1989: The Sudanese government begins deploying army militiamen notoriously known as the People's Defense Forces to raid villages in the south alongside the murahaleen. As Dut Majok lectures Valentino and Deng in What Is the What, "The strategy is to send all they can to destroy the Dinka. Have you heard the expression, Drain a pond to catch a fish?" -
Period: to
August 1991
August 1991: Valentino and all refugees at Pinyudo are forced to leave Ethiopia when that country's dictator, Mengistu Haile Mariam, is overthrown. Around the same time, the Nasir faction of SPLA splits off; a second rebel faction forms in 1992, followed by a third in 1993. Eventually, the dissident rebel factions unite in a coalition called SPLA-United. -
Period: to
1992
1992: The UNHCR Kakuma Refugee Camp in northwestern Kenya begins accepting Sudanese refugees. -
Period: to
1993
1993: A peace initiative for Sudan is pursued by Eritrea, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Kenya under the auspices of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), but has little effect. Conflict in Sudan continues to worsen. -
Period: to
1998
1998: After embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, the United States launches a missile attack on a pharmaceutical factory outside Khartoum that it believes is producing chemical weapons for terrorist groups. -
Period: to
1999
1999: Almost 4,000 Sudanese refugee boys are approved for resettlement to the United States. -
Period: to
2001
2001: Famine affects three million Sudanese. -
Period: to
September 2001
September 2001: President George Bush appoints former U.S. Senator John Danforth as the President's Special Envoy for Peace in Sudan. Valentino is approved to resettle in Atlanta. -
Period: to
February 2003
February 2003: The Darfur conflict begins. -
Peace brokered
January 9, 2005: Peace is finally brokered between southern rebels and the government of Sudan. The Nairobi Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) is signed, granting autonomy to the south for a six-year trial period, after which the south will have the opportunity to vote to secede. The agreement calls for a permanent ceasefire and sharing of oil revenues. Islamic law remains in effect in the north, while its use in the south is decided regionally. -
John Garang dies
August 1, 2005: John Garang dies in a helicopter crash three weeks after being sworn in as First Vice President of Sudan. Riots result, but peace continues.