Sudan 1983-present: Addis Ababa Accords

President Nemeiry believed he could stop the fighting of the First Sudanese Civil War and bring Sudan stability if he granted regional selfgovernment and developed the south economically. Therefore, Khartoum established contact with the SSLM (see blog titled "SSLM") in October 1971. After many arrangements were made, the two groups met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in February 1972. At first, the two sides had very different views. The south wanted a federal state with a separate southern government and their own army that would come into action only if the federal president commanded it due to a threat from outside Sudan. The north wanted to keep control over the south, governing from Khartoum.
Eventually the two sides agreed on autonomy for the southern region of Sudan (made of present day Al Istiwai, Bahr al Ghazal, and Aali an Nil) under a regional president picked by the national president with the recommendation of an elected Southern Regional Assembly. The regional president would appoint the High Executive Council which would control all parts of the government in the region with the exception of areas such as defense, foreign affairs, currency and finance, economic and social planning, and interregional problems. The national government (along with southern representatives) would be in control of these issues. Southerners were also molded into a 12,000-man southern command of the Sudanese army with an equal number of northern and southern leaders. Arabic was also declared Sudan's official language under this agreement and English was the south's principle language, which was taught in southern schools and used in administration. Some of the SSLM leaders were not in total agreement with these terms, but Lagu approved of the terms and both sides agreed to stop fighting. After both sides signed the accords, on March 27, 1972, Sudan considered this day National Unity Day. (Currently, Sudan's National Unity Day is on March 3). This agreement granted a decade of peace which was ended when President Nemeiry declared the imposition of Shari'a law throughout Sudan in 1983.