signed to end the long (20 year) war in the south of Sudan between the Sudanese government and the Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLM). As the fighting gradually diminished in this sectarian conflict which pitted Sudanese Muslims against Sudanese Christians and other minorities, arms and political agitation began shifting from the southern region to the capital Khartoum, and the western region of Darfur where various armed bands milled about in preparation for future conflict. In other words, a precipitating factor in the Darfur crisis is the dilemma of how to keep quite armed bands which depended on continued violence for their livelihood,
In early 2003 open fighting erupted between rebel, predominantly black, groups, the Sudan Liberation Movement Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), who attacked government military installation and Sudanese army and its local militia allies. The rebels in Darfur sought an end to a long-standing marginalization, politically and economical
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