Here’s a look at the life of Sudan’s leader, Omar al-Bashir.
Personal:
Birth date: January 1, 1944
Birth place: Hosh Bannaga, Sudan
Birth name: Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir
Father: Name unavailable publicly
Mother: Name unavailable publicly
Marriages: Fatima Khalid; Widad Babiker Omer
Education: Sudan Military Academy, 1966
Military service: Sudanese Armed Forces
Religion: Islam
Timeline:
1960 – Joins the Sudanese Armed Forces.
1966 – Graduates from the Sudan Military Academy.
1973 – Serves withEgyptian forces during the October 1973 Arab-Israeli war.
1973-1987 – Holds various military posts.
1989-1993 – Serves as Sudan’s Minister of Defense.
June 30, 1989 – Leads a coup against Sudan’s Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi. Establishes and proclaims himself chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council. Dissolves the government, political parties and trade unions.
April 1990 – Survives a coup attempt. Orders the execution of over 30 army and police officers implicated in the coup attempt.
1993 – The US State Department places Sudan on its list of states that sponsor terrorism.
October 16, 1993 – Becomes president of Sudan when the Revolutionary Command Council is dissolved and Sudan is restored to civilian rule.
March 1996 – Is re-elected president with more than 75% of the vote.
December 1999 – Dissolves the Parliament after National Congress Party chairman Hassan al-Turabi proposes laws limiting the president’s powers.
December 2000 – Is re-elected president with over 85% of the vote.
February 2003 – Rebels in the Darfur region of Sudan rise up against the Sudanese government.
2004 – Is criticized for not cracking down on the Janjaweed militia, a pro-government militia accused of murdering and raping people in Darfur.
September 2007 – After meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, al-Bashir agrees to peace talks with rebels. Peace talks begin in October, but are postponed indefinitely after most of the major players fail to attend.
July 14, 2008 – The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court files charges against al-Bashir for genocide and war crimes in Darfur.
March 4, 2009 – The International Criminal Court issues an arrest warrant for al-Bashir.
April 26, 2010 – Sudan’s National Election Commission certifies al-Bashir as the winner of recent presidential elections with 68% of the vote.
July 12, 2010 – The International Criminal Court issues a second arrest warrant for al-Bashir. Combined, the warrant lists 10 counts against al-Bashir.
December 12, 2014 – The ICC suspends its case against al-Bashir due to lack of support from the UN Security Council.
March 9, 2015 – The ICC asks the UN Security Council to take steps to force Sudan to extradite al-Bashir.
April 27, 2015 – Sudan’s Election Commission announces al-Bashir has been re-elected president with more than 94% of the vote. Many major opposition groups boycott the election.
June 15, 2015 – Al-Bashir leaves South Africa just as a South African High Court decides to order his arrest. The human rights group that had petitioned the court to order al-Bashir’s arrest, the Southern Africa Litigation Centre, says in a statement it is disappointed that the government allowed the Sudanese President to leave before the ruling.
November 23, 2017 – Agence France Presse and other media outlets report that during a trip to Russia, Bashir asks Putin to protect Sudan from the US, saying he wants closer military ties with Russia.
December 16, 2018 – Al-Bashir visits Syria. This marks the first time an Arab League leader has visited Syria since war began there in 2011.
February 22, 2019 – Bashir declares a year-long state of emergency in response to months of protests nationwide and calls for his resignation.
March 1, 2019 – Bashir steps down as chairman of the National Congress Party.
