Listen to the interview on the media player above June 30, 2009 Conflict and bloodshed in Sudan
are not limited to the Darfur region — separate crises are flaring in the north, the south and in the
central Nuba Mountains.Worldfocus.org’s weekly radio show
explores tensions in South Sudan, the site of a two-decade civil war
between the Muslim north and mostly Christian south that killed more
than 1.5
million people. The south is also home to 80 percent of
Sudan’s oil.The war came to an end in 2005 with the signing of a peace agreement
that exempted the south from Islamic Sharia law and established a
regional southern government as well as a system of shared oil
revenues. But with increasingly deadly tribal violence in South Sudan and a
humanitarian crisis that could soon eclipse that in Darfur, trouble is brewing once more.In a conference on Sudan in Washington last week, leaders from the north and south pledged to
avoid a return to war.South Sudan is set for a referendum on independence in 2011 and many
in the region hope that the vote will allow a break from Khartoum once
and for all, creating a
new African nation. Others remain wary,
pointing to corruption and
incompetence on the part of South Sudan’s government and accusing leaders of squandering oil revenues.Worldfocus anchor Martin Savidge hosted the following guests:Jen Marlowe is a filmmaker, writer and human rights activist. She traveled to South Sudan for the forthcoming documentary “Rebuilding Hope,” funded in part by the Pulitzer
Center on Crisis Reporting.Eric Reeves is a professor at Smith College and has
spent the past 10 years researching Sudan. He has testified several
times before the
Congress and served as a consultant to human rights
and humanitarian organizations in Sudan. He is the author of “A Long
Day’s Dying,” a book about Darfur. He contributes to the blog
Making Sense of Darfur.Sunday Taabu left South Sudan at the height
of the civil war in 1991. She is the founder of the South Sudan Institute for
Women’s Education and Leadership and previously worked for the Government of Southern Sudan’s Mission to the U.S.The show also includes audio clips from:A
Worldfocus interview with Scott Gration, the U.S. envoy to Sudan, on the importance of the region to the United States.Peter Wankomo, who fled Sudan during the civil war
and now lives in Canada. He’s the editor of a website, “South Sudan Nation,” which lobbies
for the south’s independence.A clip from Jen Marlowe’s forthcoming film, “Rebuilding
Hope,”
featuring a minister in the government of South Sudan and a woman
living in the rural village of Akon. Both comment on what’s changed
since the peace agreement and the end of
the war.Go to Worldfocus.orgLearn more about this reporting project.Back to top
Abousfian Abdelrazik arrives at Pearson International Airport in Toronto, ending six years of exile in Sudan June 27, 2009. The Canadian citizen accused by the United Nations of being linked to ...
