- Title: The rise and fall of Sudan's ousted president Omar Hassan al-Bashir
- Date: 15th August 2019
- Summary: KHARTOUM, SUDAN (FILE - AUGUST 24, 1998) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** DESTROYED AL-SHIFA PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES FACTORY In 1998, a famine occurs in the region of Bahr El Ghazal after a prolonged drought and fighting between forces supporting Sudan's government and rebels seeking independence for the south. BAHR-EL GAZAL, SOUTH SUDAN (FILE - 1998) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF EMACIATED CHILD STANDING IN FOREGROUND / LOCAL VILLAGE PEOPLE IN BACKGROUND, SITTING AND LYING ON GROUND, WAITING FOR FOOD TO BE DISTRIBUTED DURING FAMINE CAUSED BY THE CIVIL WAR VARIOUS OF SACKS OF FOOD AID BEING UNLOADED FROM RELIEF PLANE In the mainly animist and Christian south, rebels from the Sudan People's Liberation Army (or SPLA) have been fighting the government since 1983, when Khartoum tried to impose Islamic law on the entire country. Aside from the issue of Sharia law, the rebels are also fighting against what they feel is oppression and marginalisation by the government. In April 1997, Khartoum signs a deal with tje South Sudan Independence Movement and other rebel groups, isolating SPLA. Peace talks open in Nairobi in October. In February 2000, talks resume but end after five days when rebels accuse Sudan of indiscriminate attacks on civilians. NEAR MAYOM, SUDAN (FILE - FEBRUARY 2000) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) REBEL, ATTACHED TO SUDAN PEOPLE'S LIBERATION ARMY (SPLA), FIRING ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUN FROM CRATER ARMED SPLA REBELS ADVANCING THROUGH BUSH LINE OF SPLA REBELS CROUCHING AND AIMING WEAPONS On July 20, 2002, five weeks of talks in Machakos, Kenya, bring a government and SPLM deal on key issues of religion and self-determination. They sign the "Machakos protocol." On July 27 of the same year, al-Bashir meets rebel chief John Garang for first time, but negotiations collapse in September 2002 after rebels seize strategic garrison town of Torit. On October 15, the government and the SPLM sign a ceasefire for the duration of latest round of peace talks, the first such truce. KAMPALA, UGANDA (FILE - JULY 27, 2002) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SPLA LEADER JOHN GARANG, SHAKING HANDS WITH UGANDAN PRESIDENT YOWERI MUSEVENI AND AL-BASHIR AHEAD OF TALKS AIMED AT ENDING SUDAN'S CIVIL WAR On January 9, 2005, Garang and chief government negotiator Taha sign a comprehensive peace accord ending the civil war. The agreement shares oil revenues between the north and south, sets up a coalition government and promises elections, scheduled for 2010. Also the south and the oil-rich Abyei region will be able to vote in a 2011 referendum on possible secession. NAIROBI, KENYA (FILE - JANUARY 9, 2005) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) OFFICIALS AND GUESTS GATHERED IN STADIUM FOR PEACE AGREEMENT SIGNING CEREMONY ENDING 21 YEARS OF CIVIL WAR FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT OF SUDAN, ALI OSMAN MOHAMED TAHA (LEFT), AND GARANG SHAKING HANDS AND EXCHANGING COPIES OF SIGNED PEACE AGREEMENT / GARANG AND TAHA SHAKING HANDS WITH AL-BASHIR AND KENYAN PRESIDENT MWAI KIBAKI
- Embargoed: 29th August 2019 22:00
- Keywords: Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir Sudan Syria Bashar al-Assad Sadeq al-Mahdi
- Location: SEE SCRIPT BODY FOR LOCATIONS
- City: SEE SCRIPT BODY FOR LOCATIONS
- Country: Sudan
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA003ASCJ493
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: CONTAINS NUDITY
Sudan's 75-year-old president Omar al-Bashir was overthrown in a coup by the armed forces on April 11, 2019 after weeks of protests against his 30-year autocratic style rule.
Al-Bashir was born in 1944 in the Nile Valley north of Khartoum. The son of a small farmer, he graduated from Sudan's military academy in 1966 and was a career army officer who rose to the rank of general.
Al-Bashir came to power in June 1989 after toppling democratically elected prime minister Sdiq al-Mahdi in a military coup amid a long-running a civil war between Sudan's north and south. Al-Bashir was then elected as president in a poll his critics said were neither fair nor free.
In October 1993, he dissolved the military junta which brought him to power and appointed himself civilian president in a move designed to establish Islamic government in Africa's largest country as stable and civilian-based.
In 2015, Al-Bashir's quarter-century power was extended with a landslide victory for himself and his rulling party, winning 94 percent of the vote in an election boycotted by all opposition parties.
Sudan had suffered prolonged periods of isolation since 1993, when the United States added al-Bashir's government to its list of terrorism sponsors for harboring Islamist militants. Washington followed up with sanctions four years later.
The long civil war with southern separatists ended in 2005 and South Sudan became an independent country in 2011.
Al-Bashi rhas been detained in a prison in Khartoum North, across the Blue Nile from the capital's centre, since he was ousted in April.
He was later charged with incitement and involvement in the killing of protesters, as well as money laundering and financing terrorism.
Al-Bashir has also been indicted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague and is facing an arrest warrant over allegations of genocide in Sudan's Darfur region during an insurgency that began in 2003 and led to death of an estimated 300,000 people.
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