EL FASHER: Darfuris concluded voting on Wednesday in a referendum on whether to reunite the states of their arid western region, amid a boycott by rebel groups that accuse the government of rigging the vote to keep Darfur divided.
The Sudanese government's decision to split Darfur into three states in 1994 helped fuel discontent that eventually erupted into fighting - rebels and many from the large Fur tribe said the break-up allowed Khartoum to weaken and rule them.