Christians and Muslims in Sudan have endured 13 years of internal warfare, which experts say neither side can win on the battlefield.

But the struggle is not solely a political one. Theology and a clash of religious values between fundamentalist Muslims, Christians, and animist groups are in part driving this conflict. Today, experts think the war has the potential to destabilize much of East Africa, partly because Sudan's military rulers see themselves as the leading edge of Islamic revolution.

In recent years, the Islamic military government of Lt. Gen. Omar Hassan Ahmad al Bashir has intensified efforts at forced conversions, especially of Christians, under threat of death. A U.S. Department of State human rights report issued in March says pressure on non-Muslims to convert is strong. "The government treats Islam as the de facto religion and has declared that Islam must inspire the country's institutions and laws."

Last month, for the first time since seizing power in 1989, the military government held a presidential election in an attempt to show Bashir has a popular mandate to lead. Despite having 41 opponents, Bashir had little problem winning. No one had ever heard of most of the other candidates because political parties are outlawed--and the campaign lasted only 12 days.

Sudan's civil war splits the country into two regions: the dry, primarily Islamic north and the tropical south, populated by spirit-worshiping cattle herders and mission-trained Christians. Overall, an estimated 70 percent of the country adheres to Islam, 10 percent to traditional/animist beliefs, and 20 percent to Christianity.

One-third the size of the United States, the nation has 28 million widely scattered people in 579 tribal groups speaking 115 ...