Today the Sudanese Christians of Southern Sudan have started the process of getting away from their Muslim overlords .....
..... it remains to be seen if it passes off peacefully, or even at all, as the South has all the oil. Of course the South is cripplingly poor, after decades of attacks by Muslim 'government' troops, followed by internal conflict and being starved of oil revenues, so the chances of the fledgling state ever developing into anything more than another desperate Black African failed state are slim, but at least they are trying.
In theory, there should be no trouble, as Pres. Bashir (yes the one from the Mohammed Teddy bear row, and wanted by Interpol for genocide crimes) has promised rather like a latter day Pharaoh to let them go.
However, should they succeed then the message is out that those states tied in a loveless partnership with others they despise, can escape this bond by peaceful means. Nigeria springs to mind but parts of Indonesia (where the Christians of East Timor seceded in 1999 but other Christians are still being attacked), and some African states such as Buruni and Rwanda also have issues that might be resolved peacefully by referendum, we can only hope .....
Update 2017:
Sadly these hopes were dashed by the usual African taste for violence and guns and South Sudan has descended into violent chaos.
..... it remains to be seen if it passes off peacefully, or even at all, as the South has all the oil. Of course the South is cripplingly poor, after decades of attacks by Muslim 'government' troops, followed by internal conflict and being starved of oil revenues, so the chances of the fledgling state ever developing into anything more than another desperate Black African failed state are slim, but at least they are trying.
In theory, there should be no trouble, as Pres. Bashir (yes the one from the Mohammed Teddy bear row, and wanted by Interpol for genocide crimes) has promised rather like a latter day Pharaoh to let them go.
However, should they succeed then the message is out that those states tied in a loveless partnership with others they despise, can escape this bond by peaceful means. Nigeria springs to mind but parts of Indonesia (where the Christians of East Timor seceded in 1999 but other Christians are still being attacked), and some African states such as Buruni and Rwanda also have issues that might be resolved peacefully by referendum, we can only hope .....
Update 2017:
Sadly these hopes were dashed by the usual African taste for violence and guns and South Sudan has descended into violent chaos.
