Khartoum, Oct 3 (AFP/APP):Sudan hopes that a landmark peace treaty signed on Saturday will help turn a corner on decades of conflict in one of Africa’s largest countries. The partly desert nation sits between the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa. Military coups Sudan gained independence in 1956 after a period of joint rule by Britain and Egypt. It has a mainly Muslim population of 42.8 million, according to 2019 figures from the World Bank. Arabic is the official language and Islamic Sharia law was put in force in 1983, before being put on hold and then applied again under the regime of Omar al-Bashir. From June 1989 to April 2019, Sudan was led by Bashir, a career soldier who swept to power in a military coup backed by Islamists. Bashir was elected president in 2010 in the country’s first multi-party election since taking power, and re-elected in 2015. The opposition boycotted both votes. Unrest broke out in 2013 after petrol prices skyrocketed and security forces killed dozens of protesters. Demonstrations against food price hikes erupted in early 2018 and again in December after the cost of bread tripled. The protests continued for nearly four months and dozens were killed in … Continue reading Sudan: Torn apart by decades of war