Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir is a Sudanese former military officer and politician who served as the seventh head of state of Sudan under various titles from 1989 until 2019, when he was deposed in a coup d'etat.
30 Facts About Omar al-Bashir
2.
Omar al-Bashir came to power in 1989 when, as a brigadier general in the Sudanese Army, he led a group of officers in a military coup that ousted the democratically elected government of prime minister Sadiq al-Mahdi after it began negotiations with rebels in the south.
3.
In 1992, al-Bashir founded the National Congress Party, which remained the dominant political party in the country until 2019.
4.
In October 2005, Omar al-Bashir's government negotiated an end to the Second Sudanese Civil War, leading to a referendum in the South, resulting in the separation of the south as the country of South Sudan.
5.
From December 2018 onwards, Omar al-Bashir faced large-scale protests which demanded his removal from power.
6.
Omar al-Bashir's trial regarding his role in the coup that brought him into power started on 21 July 2020.
7.
Omar al-Bashir's mother was Hedieh Mohamed al-Zain, who died in 2019.
8.
In 1981, Omar al-Bashir returned to his paratroop background when he became the commander of an armored parachute brigade.
9.
The Sudanese Ministry of Defense website says that Omar al-Bashir was in the Western Command from 1967 to 1969 and then the Airborne Forces from 1969 to 1987 until he was appointed commander of the 8th Infantry Brigade from the period 1987 to 30 June 1989.
10.
When he returned to Sudan as a colonel in the Sudanese Army, Omar al-Bashir led a group of army officers in ousting the unstable coalition government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi in a bloodless military coup on 1989.
11.
On 16 October 1993, Omar al-Bashir's powers increased when he appointed himself President of the country, after which he disbanded the Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation and all other rival political parties.
12.
Omar al-Bashir was later elected president in the 1996 national election, where he was the only candidate legally allowed to run for election.
13.
Omar al-Bashir was elected president in the 1996 national election and Hassan al-Turabi was elected to a seat in the National Assembly where he served as speaker of the National Assembly "during the 1990s".
14.
On 1999, Omar al-Bashir sent troops and tanks against parliament and ousted Hassan al-Turabi, the speaker of parliament, in a palace coup.
15.
In early 1996, Omar al-Bashir authorized his Defense Minister at the time, El Fatih Erwa, to make a series of secret trips to the United States to hold talks with American officials, including officers of the CIA and United States Department of State about American sanctions policy against Sudan and what measures might be taken by the Bashir regime to remove the sanctions.
16.
International pressure intensified in 2001 and leaders from the United Nations called for Omar al-Bashir to make efforts to end the conflict and allow humanitarian and international workers to deliver relief to the southern regions of Sudan.
17.
On 26 October 2011, Omar al-Bashir said that Sudan gave military support to the Libyan rebels, who overthrew Muammar Gaddafi.
18.
On 14 July 2008, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno Ocampo, alleged that Omar al-Bashir bore individual criminal responsibility for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes committed since 2003 in Darfur.
19.
An arrest warrant for Omar al-Bashir was issued on 2009 by a Pre-Trial chamber composed of judges Akua Kuenyehia of Ghana, Anita Usacka of Latvia, and Sylvia Steiner of Brazil indicting him on five counts of crimes against humanity and two counts of war crimes.
20.
In March 2009, just before Omar al-Bashir's visit to Qatar, the Sudanese government was reportedly considering sending fighter jets to accompany his plane to Qatar, possibly in response to France expressing support for an operation to intercept his plane in international airspace, as France has military bases in Djibouti and the United Arab Emirates.
21.
In October 2009, Omar al-Bashir was invited to Uganda by President Yoweri Museveni for an African Union meeting in Kampala, but did not attend after protest by several NGOs.
22.
On 23 October 2009, Omar al-Bashir was invited to Nigeria by President Umaru Yar'Adua for another AU meeting, and was not arrested.
23.
In July 2013, Omar al-Bashir arrived in Nigeria for an African Union summit only to leave the country less than 24 hours later amid calls for his arrest.
24.
In June 2015, while in South Africa for an African Union meeting, Omar al-Bashir was prohibited from leaving that country while a court decided whether he should be handed over to the ICC for war crimes.
25.
In 2012, Omar al-Bashir proposed setting up a continent wide space agency in Africa.
26.
On 11 April 2019, Omar al-Bashir was removed from his post by the Sudanese Armed Forces after many months of protests and civil uprisings.
27.
At the time of his arrest Omar al-Bashir had been the longest-serving leader of Sudan since the country gained independence in 1956, and was the longest-ruling president of the Arab League.
28.
On 17 April 2019, Omar al-Bashir was moved from house arrest to Khartoum's Kobar Prison.
29.
On 13 May 2019, prosecutors charged Omar al-Bashir with "inciting and participating in" the killing of protesters.
30.
On 20 December 2022, Omar al-Bashir said that he bears full responsibility for the events that took place in the country on June 30,1989.