Former President Omar Al-Bashir speaks to the People’s Assembly in Khartoum, following the inauguration of the new state of South Sudan. AFP
Former President Omar Al-Bashir speaks to the People’s Assembly in Khartoum, following the inauguration of the new state of South Sudan. AFP

2019 - The downfall of Sudan’s Omar Al-Bashir

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Updated 19 April 2025
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2019 - The downfall of Sudan’s Omar Al-Bashir

2019 - The downfall of Sudan’s Omar Al-Bashir
  • After 30 years in charge, the leader was removed by the military after mass protests

LONDON: During his 30 years in charge of Sudan, President Omar Al-Bashir seemed to thrive on conflict. Whether it was with the southern half of his country, the people of Darfur, the US, or the Islamist ideologues who had helped him gain power, the former paratrooper ruled amid a perpetual state of military and political war.

When the Sudanese people took to the streets against him for what would be the final time, at the end of 2018, it was a battle too far for the then-75-year-old. Al-Bashir was removed from power in April 2019 by the military after months of protests against his rule.

That some of his closest confidants were among those who ousted him showed how his pillars of domestic and international support had collapsed from beneath him.

For the protesters who had braved his security forces to voice their desire for change, the moment was bittersweet; Al-Bashir was gone but the military and senior figures from his regime were now in control.

His legacy was one of bloodshed, extremism, international isolation and economic ruin. At the time of his downfall, he was the only leader of a nation wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity and genocide.

Born to a farming family north of Khartoum in 1944, Al-Bashir joined the military after high school and rose through the ranks to become a member of an elite parachute regiment. He was deployed to fight alongside Egyptian forces in the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, and in the 1980s he was involved in campaigns against southern rebels as part of Sudan’s decades-long civil war.

In 1989, he led the military overthrow of the democratically elected government of Sadiq Al-Mahdi. The coup was orchestrated by Hassan Al-Turabi, an Islamist scholar and leader of the National Islamic Front, an offshoot of the Sudanese branch of the Muslim Brotherhood.

How we wrote it




Omar Al-Bashir’s ousting dominated Arab News’ front page with the headline “The end of Sudan’s 30-year nightmare.”

Al-Bashir banned political parties and dissolved the parliament, while Al-Turabi acted as the ideological spine of the new regime. They swiftly introduced a hardline interpretation of Islamic law, a move that served to intensify the war raging in the south, where most of the population is Christian or animist (people who believe that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence that can influence human events). The conflict is estimated to have claimed the lives of at least 2 million people.

Al-Bashir extended his allegiance with hardline Islamism by hosting Osama bin Laden, who had been expelled from Saudi Arabia, between 1992 and 1996. It was a move that was to prove disastrous for his country, as the US placed Sudan on its list of “state sponsors of terrorism” and imposed comprehensive sanctions against it.

In 1999, when his alliance with Al-Turabi crumbled, Al-Bashir removed him from his position as speaker of the parliament and threw him in jail. Within a few years, the president was to oversee the darkest episode of his rein.

Rebels in the Darfur region in the west of the country took up arms against the government in 2003. Al-Bashir’s response was swift and brutal. His regime deployed militias, known as the Janjaweed, to unleash a scorched-earth policy of murder, rape and looting against local populations.

The UN estimates that about 300,000 people were killed and 2.5 million displaced during the conflict. In 2009, the ICC indicted Al-Bashir, accusing him of having “an essential role” in the atrocities.

In the eyes of many people, it was the breakaway of South Sudan in 2011 that marked the beginning of the end for him. The secession took with it much of Sudan’s oil-producing regions, depriving Khartoum of a key source of revenue and precipitating a steep economic decline.

Key Dates

  • 1

    Sudanese Army Gen. Omar Al-Bashir seizes power in military coup.

    Timeline Image June 30, 1989

  • 2

    International Criminal Court issues arrest warrant charging him with war crimes in Darfur.

    Timeline Image March 4, 2009

  • 3

    Al-Bashir deposed and arrested in military coup.

    Timeline Image April 11, 2019

  • 4

    Moved from house arrest to a maximum-security prison.

  • 5

    Charged with “inciting and participating” in killing of protesters.

  • 6

    Convicted on corruption charges, he is sentenced to 2 years in a reform facility.

  • 7

    Sudan’s military-civilian Sovereign Council hints it is prepared to hand over Al-Bashir to the ICC, where he is still wanted on charges of war crimes and genocide.

  • 8

    Al-Bashir goes on trial in Khartoum over the 1989 coup that brought him to power.

    Timeline Image July 21, 2020

  • 9

    Sudanese army, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, takes control of the government in a military coup.

    Timeline Image Oct. 25, 2021

  • 10

    Clashes between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces break out in Khartoum, marking start of civil war.

    Timeline Image April 15, 2023

  • 11

    Al-Bashir moved to Merowe hospital, 450 km north of Khartoum.

Al-Bashir was forced to try to rebuild relations with the West and China, and to shift his allegiances in the Middle East away from Iran and back toward the Arab Gulf countries from which he had managed to ostracize himself.

Years of economic problems came to a head in December 2018, when his government tripled the price of bread and public protests began. Al-Bashir desperately attempted to cling to power, appearing at a rally in January 2019 during which he called the demonstrators “traitors” and “rats.” In the months of protests that followed, dozens of people were killed by security forces and thousands thrown in jail.

On April 6, 2019, tens of thousands of protesters set up camp outside the Defense Ministry in Khartoum, where Al-Bashir’s residence was also located. Early on April 11, he was informed that the country’s most senior military and security officials had removed him from power.

This historic moment dominated the front page of Arab News the next day, a mark of both the scale of the story and the political and economic links between Saudi Arabia and Sudan.

“The end of Sudan’s 30-year nightmare” read the headline to the main story, accompanied by a photo of a smiling girl waving the Sudanese flag amid the celebrations in Khartoum.

The front page also featured an opinion piece by the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Faisal J. Abbas, which asked “What next for the Sudanese?” His article highlighted the number of people from the country he had met who had fled Al-Bashir’s regime bound for Europe and beyond, often highly educated doctors and other professionals who would never return.

“The Al-Bashir regime did not mind watching institution after institution fail,” Abbas wrote. “It oversaw Sudan’s becoming one of the poorest in the region, despite its abundant resources.”




Sudanese protesters gather around a banner depicting ousted president Al-Bashir during rally outside the army headquarters in Khartoum. AFP

After his downfall, Al-Bashir was held at Kober prison in Khartoum, the same facility in which many of his opponents had been detained after he ordered their arrests.

Outside the prison walls, Sudan struggled to move forward, with protests continuing until a deal was struck in August 2019 that led to the establishment of a sovereign council comprising both civilian and military officials.

What came next was a catalog of setbacks for the aspirations of the Sudanese people, which ultimately plunged their country into a catastrophic civil war that rages to this day.

In October 2021, the military staged a coup, dissolved the power-sharing agreement with the civilian leaders and arrested many of them. With power fully back in their hands, however, the generals struggled to make headway against a deepening economic crisis and ongoing protests.

Amid the turmoil, tensions grew between the head of the army, Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, commonly known as “Hemedti,” who commanded rival paramilitary faction the Rapid Support Forces.

These two disparate characters, who had formed a shaky partnership after Al-Bashir’s downfall, became locked in a power struggle, clashing over how the powerful RSF should merge with the army.




Rapid Support Forces fighters ride in the back of a pickup truck mounted with a turret in the East Nile district of greater Khartoum. Screengrab/AFP

On April 15, 2023, fighting between the two forces broke out in Khartoum and quickly spread to other major towns across the vast country. The nightmare scenario of another devastating conflict in Sudan had come to fruition. It has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced millions and plunged some regions into a famine the UN warns could spread further.

That Al-Bashir allowed the RSF to emerge out of the Janjaweed militias from the Darfur conflict, and become a powerful military counterweight to threats against him from within the army, means the ongoing conflict is yet another part of his dark legacy.

With no end to the fighting in sight and the international community focused on wars elsewhere, the Sudanese who had dared to dream of a brighter future beyond the shadow of Al-Bashir will continue to suffer.

As for the former dictator himself, he was sentenced to two years in prison in December 2019 for corruption. A trial began in 2020 related to his actions during the 1989 coup that brought him to power, but a verdict was never reached.

Now in his 80s, time might be running out for Al-Bashir’s victims in Darfur to see him handed over to the ICC and brought to justice. With his health reportedly deteriorating, he was moved in September 2024 to a hospital 450 kilometers north of Khartoum, a safe distance from the fighting raging across the country.

  • Jonathan Lessware is a UK-based journalist at Arab News and former foreign editor of The National in Abu Dhabi.


Saudi snooker prodigy hopes to one day be world champion

Saudi snooker prodigy hopes to one day be world champion
Updated 1 min 6 sec ago
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Saudi snooker prodigy hopes to one day be world champion

Saudi snooker prodigy hopes to one day be world champion
  • Abdullah Alqabani participated in the Saudi Junior Championship as the youngest player in the tournament
  • Alqabani practices at the Ronnie O’Sullivan academy in Riyadh

JEDDAH: 10-year-old Saudi snooker player, Abdullah Alqabani, is hoping to make a name for himself in the sport and represent Saudi Arabia internationally.

Alqabani on Tuesday took part in the Saudi Junior Championship, a part of the World Pool Championship making him the youngest player in the tournament.

Despite losing 4-7 in the first round of the Saudi Junior Championship to Romanian Hermeneanu Evan, the young Saudi remains hopeful about his future in snooker and aims to be the best snooker player in Saudi Arabia.

Arab News spoke to him at the Green Halls, he said: “I am so glad to be part of this international championship and seeing the best in the world competing here at home. It is a really great moment for me and my teammates because we learn from it. Just watching the best in the world performing here in Saudi Arabia is something else.”

Alqabani, who hails from Riyadh, spends more time training at Ronnie O’Sullivan academy in Riyadh and recently has been shining on the junior snooker circuit in Saudi Arabia and because of his skills, he was invited to join the Saudi national team.

“Saudi Arabia is not a snooker nation but the sport is getting there and many players now are playing billiards and snooker off course with the support of the Saudi Billiards and Snookers Federation,” he said.

At the age of 8, he started playing the American pool and moved to snooker as he got older, “It all started with my father who used to take me to play with him in one of the clubs in Riyadh.

 He continued: “I am going to work hard to become the best player in Saudi Arabia and with such events held in Saudi Arabia, I think my generation can make it to the highest level but it takes time.”

As one of the young snooker players all over the world who look up to the greatest player of all time, Ronnie O’Sullivan, often referred to as ‘The Rocket,’ Alqabani said: “My idol is Ronnie O’Sullivan and hope one day to be like him.”


Israeli far right discusses Gaza ‘riviera’ plans

Palestinians carry the body of a person killed in an Israeli army airstrike on Gaza into Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
Palestinians carry the body of a person killed in an Israeli army airstrike on Gaza into Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
Updated 13 min 50 sec ago
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Israeli far right discusses Gaza ‘riviera’ plans

Palestinians carry the body of a person killed in an Israeli army airstrike on Gaza into Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
  • Name of the event evokes a proposal floated by Trump in February to turn the territory into “the Riviera of the Middle East” after moving out its Palestinian residents

JERUSALEM: Some Israeli far-right leaders held a public meeting on Tuesday to discuss redeveloping the Gaza Strip into a tourist-friendly “riviera,” as Palestinians face a worsening humanitarian crisis in the devastated territory.

The meeting, titled “The Riviera in Gaza: From Vision to Reality,” was held in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, under the auspices of some of its most hard-line members.

It saw the participation of firebrand Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, as well as activist Daniella Weiss, a vocal proponent of Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip, among others.

The name of the event evokes a proposal floated by US President Donald Trump in February to turn the war-ravaged territory into “the Riviera of the Middle East” after moving out its Palestinian residents and putting it under American control.

The idea drew swift condemnation from across the Arab world, and from Palestinians themselves, for whom any effort to force them off their land would recall the “Nakba,” or catastrophe — the mass displacement of Palestinians during Israel’s creation in 1948.

Participants in Tuesday’s Knesset meeting discussed a “master plan” drafted by Weiss’s organization to re-establish a permanent Jewish presence in Gaza.

The detailed plan foresees the construction of housing for 1.2 million new Jewish residents, and the development of industrial and agricultural zones, as well as tourism complexes on the coast.

Eight Israeli settlements located in various parts of the Gaza Strip were dismantled in 2005 as part of Israel’s unilateral decision to “disengage” from Gaza following years of violence between settlers, Palestinian armed groups and the army.

For the past two decades, a small but vocal section of Israeli society has urged the resettlement of the Strip.

Those voices have become louder after Palestinian militant group Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, with advocates presenting resettlement as a way to maintain tighter security control over the area.

The October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel’s ensuing military campaign in Gaza has killed 59,106 Palestinians, also mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

Meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis in the Strip has reached catastrophic proportions after 21 months of conflict and a two-month aid blockade imposed by Israel.

Israel began easing the blockade in late May, but extreme scarcities of food and other essentials persist, and cases of malnutrition and starvation are becoming increasingly frequent, according to local authorities, NGOs and AFP journalists on the ground.


UN backs peaceful dispute resolution as Pakistan slams India over water treaty suspension 

UN backs peaceful dispute resolution as Pakistan slams India over water treaty suspension 
Updated 15 min 25 sec ago
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UN backs peaceful dispute resolution as Pakistan slams India over water treaty suspension 

UN backs peaceful dispute resolution as Pakistan slams India over water treaty suspension 
  • Pakistan’s deputy PM criticizes India for “illegally” suspending 65-year-old water-sharing treaty
  • UN Security Council unanimously adopts resolution on mechanisms to resolve global conflicts

ISLAMABAD: The United Nations Security Council on Tuesday unanimously adopted a resolution calling on member states to use peaceful means, including negotiation, mediation and judicial settlement, to resolve disputes, as Pakistan accused India of undermining a landmark water-sharing agreement.

Signed in 1960 with World Bank mediation, the Indus Waters Treaty governs the distribution of the Indus River and its tributaries between India and Pakistan, two nuclear-armed neighbors with a history of conflict. Despite strained bilateral relations over the decades, the treaty has been regarded as one of the most resilient diplomatic frameworks in South Asia.

Speaking at the UNSC’s open debate, Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said the 65-year-old Indus Waters Treaty remained a “noteworthy example of dialog and diplomacy working for peacefully arriving at a water-sharing arrangement between two neighbors.”

“The treaty has withstood periods of trials and tribulations in bilateral relations,” Dar said.

“It is most unfortunate and regrettable that India has chosen to illegally and unilaterally hold this treaty in abeyance on baseless grounds with the intention of withholding the flow of water to 240 million people of Pakistan, who rely on it for their livelihood and survival.”

Dar’s remarks came as the Security Council adopted a resolution reaffirming the importance of peaceful dispute resolution mechanisms, with all 15 of the Council’s members voting in favor.

The resolution encourages states to make full use of existing mechanisms such as “negotiation, mediation, arbitration, judicial settlement or other peaceful means,” in accordance with the UN Charter.

India decided to hold the IWT treaty “in abeyance” after a militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir killed 26 people in April. New Delhi blamed Pakistan for being behind the attack and announced a slew of punitive measures, including suspending the water sharing pact. 

Pakistan denies involvement in the assault and has called for an independent international investigation.

The IWT ensures water supply for 80 percent of Pakistani farms. Pakistan has previously warned that the treaty contains no provision for unilateral withdrawal and any attempt to block or stop river water flowing into the country would be considered “an act of war.”

In May, weeks after the April attack, the most intense India–Pakistan military confrontation in decades ensued, involving a series of drone, artillery and missile strikes before a ceasefire was brokered by the US on May 10.


Fugitive Moldovan oligarch implicated in $1 billion bank fraud detained in Greece

Fugitive Moldovan oligarch implicated in $1 billion bank fraud detained in Greece
Updated 29 min 27 sec ago
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Fugitive Moldovan oligarch implicated in $1 billion bank fraud detained in Greece

Fugitive Moldovan oligarch implicated in $1 billion bank fraud detained in Greece
  • Vladimir Plahotniuc fled Moldova in 2019 as he faced a series of corruption charges
  • The Greek police unit tackling organized crime said Interpol was seeking Plahotniuc on suspicion of participating in a criminal organization

CHISINAU: A fugitive Moldovan oligarch implicated in a $1 billion bank fraud and other illicit schemes was detained Tuesday in Greece, Moldova’s national police said.

Vladimir Plahotniuc fled Moldova in 2019 as he faced a series of corruption charges including allegations of complicity in a scheme that led to $1 billion disappearing from a Moldovan bank in 2014, which at the time was equivalent to about an eighth of Moldova’s annual GDP.

Plahotniuc has denied any wrongdoing.

Moldovan police said in a statement they were informed by Interpol’s office in Athens that two Moldovan citizens had been detained, including Plahotniuc, who was placed on Interpol’s international wanted list in February. Authorities did not name the other detainee.

The Greek police unit tackling organized crime said Interpol was seeking Plahotniuc on suspicion of participating in a criminal organization, fraud and money laundering.

Moldova’s Ministry of Justice and Prosecutor’s Office are in the process of exchanging information to begin seeking extradition of Plahotniuc and the other detainee, a government official told The Associated Press.

Plahotniuc, one of Moldova’s wealthiest men, fled to the US from Moldova in June 2019 after failing to form a government with his Democratic Party.

The US declared him persona non grata in 2020 and his whereabouts were unknown for years.

The powerful businessman and politician was added to a US State Department sanctions list in 2022 for alleged corruption. The charges included controlling the country’s law enforcement to target political and business rivals and meddling in Moldova’s elections.

He was added to a UK sanctions list in 2022 and barred from entering the country. His assets were frozen in the UK and its overseas territories.


Japan avoids criticizing Israel for bombing and invading Syria

Japan avoids criticizing Israel for bombing and invading Syria
Updated 36 min 34 sec ago
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Japan avoids criticizing Israel for bombing and invading Syria

Japan avoids criticizing Israel for bombing and invading Syria
  • Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya reiterated Japan’s commitment to peaceful conflict resolution
  • He emphasized that Syria’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence should be respected

TOKYO: Despite the recent attacks on Gaza and Syria, Japan has notably refrained from condemning Israel’s actions.

This stance contrasts sharply with Tokyo’s more vocal criticisms of military actions taken by other nations, such as Russia.

Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya reiterated Japan’s commitment to peaceful conflict resolution, emphasizing the need for restraint and dialogue. He also expressed appreciation for the efforts of countries working to resolve the situation in Syria.

“As I mentioned previously, we are deeply concerned about the situation in Syria,” Iwaya stated, adding that Israel’s attacks on Syria could be “severely worsening” the situation there.

“We are calling for the steadfast implementation of the ceasefire agreement agreed upon by the involved parties and strongly urging all parties, including Israel, to exercise maximum restraint.”

Furthermore, Iwaya emphasized that Syria’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence should be respected. He acknowledged that the Syrian government has engaged in dialogue aimed at achieving a political solution and national reconciliation.

“We are committed to demanding that all parties play a constructive role in achieving a peaceful and stable transition in Syria,” he added.

Israel’s aggressive invasion of Syrian territories and its ongoing bombings of critical Syrian establishments — most recently, airstrikes on the presidential palace and the defense ministry — have raised serious concerns.

When Iwaya was asked whether Japan would take a stronger stance, including condemnation and sanctions against Israel like its response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine, he reiterated, “We are committed to demanding that all parties play a constructive role in achieving a peaceful and stable transition in Syria.”