...At this point, Suleiman’s friend and fellow lawyer, Gabriel Matur Malek, jumps in. He’s a Christian and a member of one of Sudan’s largest ethnic groups, the Dinkas. There’s an old Dinka saying, he says: “If you do something wrong to me, I forgive you. But I know that someday God will make you hit the son of a chief on the head. Then the chief will punish you.” Some Dinkas believe, he says, “that the Islamic world has hit the son of the chief on the head – and now they’re seeing the wrath of George Bush.”

As the conversation wound down, I bid goodbye. As I headed out the door, Sulieman called out, “You go back to your country and vote for George Bush!” No promises. But it sure was an interesting night.