Sudan Agrees With Rebels To Remove Islam As State Religion

In signing successive peace deals with entrenched rebel movements earlier this month, Sudan signed a declaration of principles which further cements Sudan’s efforts to undo the 30-year system of strict Sharia law under President Omar al-Bashir, during which Islam was the religion of the state.

The agreement was signed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, four days after a more inclusive peace deal was signed with a coalition of rebel groups in the Sudan Revolutionary Front in Juba, South Sudan. The Juba agreement established a national commission for religious freedom, which guarantees the rights of Christian communities in Sudan’s southern regions.