Level = 0                                         Development: Very Low

Country Overview

What has been going on in Sudan?

Space Agency and its Activity

What kind of space power do they have?

Weapons and Power Projection

Does the Sudan have space weapons?

Timeline and the Future

What are they planning over there?

OVERVIEW

Sudan is the largest and one of the most diverse countries in Africa,

home to deserts, mountain ranges, swamps and rain forests.

It has emerged from a 21-year civil war between the mainly Muslim north and the Animist and Christian south which is said to have cost the lives of 1.5 million people. Southern rebels said they were battling oppression and marginalisation.

After two years of bargaining the government and rebels signed a comprehensive peace deal in January 2005.

• Politics: Humanitarian crisis amid civil war in Darfur is seen as "one of the worst nightmares in recent history". Omar al-Bashir heads a unity government formed after a peace deal ended 20 years of southern civil war. An independence referendum in the south will follow a six-year period of autonomy
• Economy: Oil production and revenues are rising
• International: Sudan allows a small African Union force in Darfur but opposes the deployment of UN troops as "foreign occupation"
•  

The economic dividends of peace could be great. Sudan has large areas of cultivatable land, as well as gold and cotton. Its oil reserves are ripe for further exploitation.

But while the government and southern rebels inched closer to peace, fighting broke out in the western region of Darfur in early 2003 when rebels seeking greater autonomy began an insurrection.

Up to two million people have fled their homes and tens of thousands of people have been killed. Pro-government Arab militias are accused of carrying out a campaign of ethnic cleansing against non-Arab groups in the region.

Sudan's name comes from the Arabic "bilad al-sudan", or land of the blacks. Arabic is the official language and Islam is the religion of the state, but the country has a large non-Arabic speaking and non-Muslim population which has rejected attempts by the government in Khartoum to impose Islamic Sharia law on the country as a whole.

President Omar al-Bashir has been locked in a power struggle with Hassan al-Turabi, his former mentor and the main ideologue of Sudan's Islamist government. Since 2001 Mr Turabi has spent periods in detention and has been accused, but not tried, over an alleged coup plot.

Full name: Republic of Sudan

• Population: 35 million (UN, 2005)
• Capital: Khartoum
• Area: 2.5 million sq km (966,757 sq miles)
• Major languages: Arabic; Nubian, others
• Major religions: Islam, Christianity
• Life expectancy: 55 years (men), 58 years (women) (UN)
• Monetary unit: Sudanese dinar
• Main exports: Oil, cotton, sesame, livestock and hides, gum arabic
• GNI per capita: US $640 (World Bank, 2006)
• Internet domain: .sd
• International dialling code: +249

President: Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir

 Omar al-Bashir entered into a power-sharing administration in July 2005 alongside his former enemy, the southern ex-rebel leader John Garang, who has since died. The event was a key stage in the implementation of the January 2005 peace deal.

Mr Bashir is Sudan's overall leader, but Mr Garang's successor, Salva Kiir, heads an interim administration in the south.

Back to Index

 Sudan's Space Infrastructure

Sudan is one of the world's poorest countries, and its space program is not suprisingly, nonexistent. Not only does it not have an agency, but also no infrastructure in which one would arise. The Sudan University of Science and Technology offers a degree in physics but nothing specific to space related educational architecture, such as astrophysics, astronomy, astronautics or aeronautics. The government has no ministry devoted to science of this type.

Sudan has no history of being part of any organization dealing with space, nor has any launch capability.

Sudan lacks the industrial base, the educational base and the political foundation for a process like this to occur within it. It has no functioning university with an astrophysics or astronautics program, and nonexistant industry.

Sudan operates no satellites and, not having an orbital presence, has no space power.

The government of Sudan in Khartoum has no plans for attempting to further any ambition in space development or research.

Top of Page

WEAPONS AND POWER

None

Top of Page

Timeline of Events in Sudan

...From the Past to the Future

1881 - Revolt against the Turco-Egyptian administration.

1956 - Sudan becomes independent.

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.

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.

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.

2001 September - UN lifts largely symbolic sanctions against Sudan. They were imposed in 1996 over accusations that Sudan harboured 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.

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

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 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 a coup plot by supporters of Islamist leader Hassan al-Turabi.

Final peace

2005 January - Government and southern rebels sign a peace deal. 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.

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 recovery aid for southern Sudan.

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.

Southern autonomy

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 - Vice president and former rebel leader John Garang is killed in a plane crash. He is succeeded by Salva Kiir. Garang's death sparks deadly clashes in the capital between southern Sudanese and northern Arabs.

2005 September - Power-sharing government is formed in Khartoum.

2005 October - Autonomous government is formed in the south, in line with the January 2005 peace deal. The administration is dominated by former rebels.

2006 May - Khartoum government and the main rebel faction in Darfur, the Sudan Liberation Movement, sign a peace accord. Two smaller rebel groups reject the deal. Fighting continues.

2006 August - Sudan rejects a United Nations resolution calling for a UN peacekeeping force in Darfur, saying it would compromise Sudanese sovereignty.

2006 September - Sudan says African Union troops must quit Darfur when their mandate expires at the end of the month, raising fears that the region would descend into full-blown war.

Activists rally in major cities around the world calling on Sudan to allow UN peacekeepers into Darfur.

2006 October - Jan Pronk, the UN's top official in Sudan, is expelled.

2006 November - African Union extends mandate of its peacekeeping force in Darfur for another six months.

Hundreds are thought to have died in the heaviest fighting between northern Sudanese forces and their former southern rebel foes since they signed a peace deal last year. Fighting is centred on the southern town of Malakal.

2006 December - Sudan agrees in principle to accept the deployment of UN troops in Darfur as part of an expanded peacekeeping force.

TODAY AND INTO THE FUTURE

Nothing Planned

Top of Page