Building a New Islamic State

Sudan looks set for the old Sharia behind their backs trick, as the largely Christian South Sudan votes for independence. The ceasefire that ended a bloody war between the Muslim/Arab North and Christian/African South will expire, with the South’s inevitable vote for independence in last week’s referendum. For the estimated .5 to 1.5 million Christians living in the North, there are fears about the same type of ethnic cleansing that killed millions in the last war.
Those fears are based in an increasingly violent rhetoric from Sudanese President Omar Bashir. “If south Sudan secedes, we will change the constitution and at that time there will be no time to speak of diversity of culture and ethnicity,” President Bashir told supporters at a rally in the eastern city of Gedaref on December 19th. “Sharia (Islamic law) and Islam will be the main source for the constitution, Islam the official religion and Arabic the official language.” At best, Christians in the North and Darfuris in the West, who were already dispossessed of land and life for not being Arab, can expect second-class citizenship.