Anya Anya I Flag

This background on the Anya-Nya movement is taken from The Sudanese press after separation – Contested identities of journalism, 2012, Page 40:

The Anya-Nya movement was established as a loosely knit rebel group in 1963, deriving its name from a snake poison. This guerilla army’s core members were veterans of the 1955 mutiny in Torit. Its activities contributed indirectly to the fall of General Abboud’s military regime in 1964. With a subsequent infusion of arms from Congolese rebels, the insurgency intensified, winning popular support against the Umma-led governments’ violent attempts at a solution. While Southern politicians in exile were unable to create a unified movement, the military leaders became more and more active in political affairs. Starting in 1967, Colonel Joseph Lagu challenged the leadership of Emilio Taffeng and eventually became the new supreme commander, bringing together rivaling factions in a more cohesive umbrella organization, the Southern Sudanese Liberation Movement (SSLM). Thanks to material support from Israel, the SSLM managed to gain control over large parts of the Equatoria region. After the 1969 May Revolution, Colonel Jafar Numeiri’s new regime first increased military pressure but then entered into negotia- tions with the SSLM, which quickly resulted in the March 1972 Addis Ababa peace agreement. It granted autonomy to the South and absorbed the Anya-Nya fighters into the Sudanese army and government services. However, the peace remained fragile and mutinies of former Anya-Nya in 1975, 1976 and early 1983 culminated in the May 1983 rebellion, the beginning of the second war.

Links

• Wikipedia - Anyanya
• Wikipedia - First Sudanese Civil War