El FASHER, Sudan: Darfur residents began voting on Monday in a referendum on whether to reunite their arid western region into one entity, a poll Sudan says will settle an issue at the heart of the long-running conflict.
The Sudanese government's decision to split Darfur into three states in 1994 helped fuel discontent that erupted into fighting in 2003. Rebels and the large Fur tribe said the break-up allowed Khartoum to dive and rule them.