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Sudan
Western Sudan
Regional resentment of Khartoum was not limited to the south,
but was present to varying degrees in other areas of Sudan, especially
the western state of Darfur. Although the ethnically diverse people
of Darfur were predominantly Muslim, more than 40 percent were
not Arabs and generally felt more affinity with related groups
in neighboring Chad than with Khartoum. The civil strife in Chad
during the 1980s inevitably spilled over into western Darfur,
exacerbating historical tensions between the nonArab Fur and Zaghawa
ethnic groups (see Chad , this ch.). The perception among many
Fur that the RCC-NS encouraged and even armed militia among their
enemies inspired guerrilla attacks on central government facilities
and forces in Darfur. The general sense of antagonism toward the
RCC-NS was reinforced by the drought and the near-famine conditions
that have afflicted Darfur since 1984. Like its predecessors,
the RCC-NS failed to cope with the social and economic consequences
of the environmental disaster, a situation that increased alienation
from the central government. By the early 1990s, much of Darfur
was in a state of anarchy.
Data as of June 1991
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