Region | Sudan
Profile: Omar Al Bashir
A brief biography of Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir.
- Agencies
- Published: 17:33 July 14, 2008
- Image Credit: Gulf News Archive
- Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir appointed himself as president in October 1993.
Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir was born in 1944 in the Nile Valley north of Khartoum.
After graduating from Sudan's military academy in 1966, he joined the army as an officer before rising to the rank of general. During his time in the army, he served in combat against the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA).
In June 1989, he overthrew the democratically elected civilian government of former Prime Minister Sadeq Al Mahdi in a coup. He then went on to dissolve the military government that brought him to power, appointing himself civilian president in October 1993.
Bashir has played a pivotal role in the conflict with the south. In 2004, after nearly two decades of fighting, his government forged a peace deal with rebels seeking greater autonomy for the mostly animist or Christian south from the Muslim north. Under the agreement, Sharia would not be applied in the south
His rule in Sudan has been plagued by unrest and conflict. In February 2003, the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), two predominant rebel groups rose Sudan's western Darfur area, claiming the government was not doing enough for the region.
The situation has since deteriorated, and in five years close to 200,000 people have believed to have died of disease, hunger or violence. Another 2.5 million people have been displaced from their homes. Khartoum maintains that about 10,000 people have died.
The government's various attempts at ceasefires and peace deals have failed and the presence of peacekeepers from the African Union and United Nations has not stopped the violence.
The International Criminal Court has accused Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir of genocide and is seeking to arrest the leader. Al Bashir would be the first sitting or former head of state to be charged with genocide by the six-year-old international court.
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