On January 1, 1959, Sudan finally became an independent country and it seemed that its history of conflict would soon come to an end. But this was not the case, as for much of its independent status Sudan was a country in constant turmoil. For the first thirteen years, from 1959 to 1969, Sudan was governed by an elected government, but in that year, 1969, the elected government was overthrown in a military coup. Since this incident, Sudan has been in a civil war almost indefinitely. This rule lasted for about 20 years when a leader of that government rebelled against them. In 1989, Lieutenant General Omar al-Bashir seized power in another coup. Shortly thereafter, al-Bashir made a decision that many people look back on and wonder why he did it. This decision was al-Bashir's shocking alliance with a man named Hassam al-Turabi. This was in the early 1990s and many people knew of the close ties al-Turabi had with Islamic terrorist groups. He was also the Muslim cleric who headed the country's ruling party, the National Congress Party (Sodaro 2008, 154). Subsequently, in 1991, Osama bin Laden obtained residency in Sudan under the protection of the National Congress Party and more specifically al-Turabi himself. Bin Laden was known to have ties to terrorist groups, but he was still allowed to remain in the country until 1996. During this period, a rivalry formed between al-Bashir and al-Turabi that intensified every year. This would eventually lead to al-Bashir stripping al-Turabi of the powers he had been granted in years past. War was narrowly averted shortly after this happened, when al-Bashir had al-Turabi arrested, for attempting to start an uprising and... middle of paper... is trying to broker peace not just in Sudan , but throughout Africa. In conclusion, it is about where the lines between comparative politics and international relations end. On the one hand, comparative politics academics would like to study the situation and discover the government's reasons why these events are occurring in Sudan and, above all, in Darfur. On the other hand there are governments around the world worried about how this international relations problem will negatively affect the world and how they should deal with China. Works Cited Andersson, Hillary. 2009. China “is fueling the war in Darfur.” BBC News.Press associated. 2009. Sudan's leader is accused of war crimes. MSNBC.com.Noueihed Lin. 2009. Sudan, Darfur rebels agree to hold peace talks. Reuters.Sodaro, Michael J. 2008. Comparative Politics: A Global Introduction. New York: McGraw-Hill.