Omar al-Bashir

2022-01-07T16:11:43Z

2A00:23C6:889A:8D01:3C64:A2F3:DEBB:1F20:

{{Short description|President of Sudan from 1989 to 2019}}
{{Redirect|al-Bashir|other people with the name|Bashir}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[Field Marshal]]
|native_name = عمر البشير
|image = Omar al-Bashir, 12th AU Summit, 090202-N-0506A-137.jpg
|caption = Al-Bashir in 2009
|office = [[List of heads of state of Sudan|7th]] [[President of Sudan]]
|vicepresident = {{plainlist|
*First Vice Presidents
*[[Zubair Mohamed Salih]]
*[[Ali Osman Taha]]
*[[John Garang]]
*[[Salva Kiir Mayardit]]
*[[Ali Osman Taha]]
*[[Bakri Hassan Saleh]]
*[[Ahmed Awad Ibn Auf]]
*Second Vice Presidents
*[[George Kongor Arop]]
*[[Moses Kacoul Machar]]
*[[Ali Osman Taha]]
*[[Alhaj Adam Yousef]]
*[[Hassabu Mohamed Abdalrahman]]
*[[Osman Mohamed Yousif Kibir]]
}}
|primeminister = [[Bakri Hassan Saleh]] [[Motazz Moussa]] [[Mohamed Tahir Ayala]]
|term_start = 16 October 1993
|term_end = 11 April 2019
|predecessor = Himself as Chairman of the RCC
|successor = [[Ahmed Awad Ibn Auf]] (as Chairman of the [[Transitional Military Council (2019)|Transitional Military Council]])
|birth_name = Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir
|birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1944|1|1}}
|birth_place = [[Hosh Bannaga]], [[Anglo-Egyptian Sudan]]
|death_date =
|death_place =
|party = [[National Congress Party (Sudan)|National Congress Party]] (1992–2019)
|spouse = Fatima Khalid Widad Babiker Omer
|alma_mater = [[Egyptian Military Academy]]
|allegiance = {{plainlist|
*{{flagu|Sudan}}
*{{flagu|Egypt}}}}
|branch = {{Flagdeco|Sudan}} [[Sudanese Army]]
|serviceyears = 1960–2019
|rank = [[Field Marshal]]
|battles = {{plainlist|
*[[First Sudanese Civil War]]
*[[Yom Kippur War]]
*[[First Congo War]]
*[[Second Sudanese Civil War]]}}
|office2=Chairman of the [[Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation]]
|termstart2=30 June 1989
|termend2=16 October 1993
|predecessor2=[[Ahmed al-Mirghani]] (as President)
|successor2=Himself as President
|deputy2 = [[Zubair Mohamed Salih]]
|
}}

[[Field Marshal]] '''Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir''' ({{lang-ar|عمر حسن أحمد البشير}}, pronounced {{IPA-ar|ba'ʃiːr|}};<ref>{{cite web|title=Sudan's Omar Al-Bashir attends Mid-East's Largest Arms Fair|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mdGRXwlTeU |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/9mdGRXwlTeU| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|date=1 March 2015|work=BBC News|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> born {{nowrap|1 January}} 1944) is a Sudanese former military officer, politician and alleged war criminal who served as the seventh [[president of Sudan|head of state of Sudan]] under various titles from 1989 until 2019, when he was deposed in a [[2019 Sudanese coup d'état|coup d'état]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-47852496|title=Sudan coup: Why Omar al-Bashir was overthrown|date=15 April 2019|work=BBC News|access-date=21 January 2021}}</ref> He was subsequently incarcerated, tried and convicted on multiple corruption charges.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/08/omar-al-bashir-trial-justice-delivered-190823182515842.html|title=Omar al-Bashir on trial: Will justice be delivered?|work=Al Jazeera|first=Linah|last=Alsaafin|date=24 August 2019|access-date=21 January 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Omar al-Bashir: Sudan ex-leader sentenced for corruption |date=14 December 2019 |newspaper=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-50794096 }}</ref> He came to power in 1989 when, as a [[brigadier]] general in the [[Sudanese Army]], he led a group of officers in a [[1989 Sudanese coup d'état|military coup]] that ousted the democratically elected government of prime minister [[Sadiq al-Mahdi]] after it began negotiations with rebels in the south.<ref name=reuters-factbox>{{cite news|url= https://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUKL1435274220080714|title=FACTBOX – Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir|work=[[Reuters]]|access-date=16 July 2008|date=14 July 2008}}</ref> He was elected three times as President in elections that have been under scrutiny for [[electoral fraud]].<ref name="news.bbc.co.uk">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8645661.stm|title=Dream election result for Sudan's President Bashir|work=BBC News|date=27 April 2010|access-date=17 December 2014}}</ref> In 1992, al-Bashir founded the [[National Congress Party (Sudan)|National Congress Party]], which remained the dominant political party in the country until 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://edition.cnn.com/africa/live-news/sudan-latest-updates/h_273cb018352361935737f51e56875bec|title=Sudan's government has been dissolved|author1=Eliza Mackintosh|author2=James Griffiths|date=11 April 2019|website=CNN}}</ref> In March 2009, al-Bashir became the first sitting head of state to be [[International Criminal Court investigation in Darfur#Omar al-Bashir|indicted by the International Criminal Court]] (ICC), for allegedly directing a campaign of mass killing, rape, and pillage against civilians in [[Darfur]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unitedhumanrights.org/genocide/genocide-in-sudan.htm|title=Genocide in Darfur |work=United Human Rights Council|access-date=17 December 2014}}</ref> On 11 February 2020, the Sudanese government announced that it had agreed to hand over al-Bashir to the ICC for trial.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://apnews.com/c6698024bdd7f1cade89b9b4101d25c1|title=Official: Sudan to hand over al-Bashir for genocide trial|work=AP News|first=Samy|last=Magdy|date=11 February 2020|access-date=12 February 2020}}</ref>

In October 2005, al-Bashir's government negotiated an end to the [[Second Sudanese Civil War]],<ref name="South Sudan profile">{{cite web|title=South Sudan profile|url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14019202|work=BBC News|access-date=14 March 2013}}</ref> leading to a referendum in the South, resulting in the separation of the south as the country of [[South Sudan]]. In the Darfur region, he oversaw the [[war in Darfur]] that resulted in death tolls that are about 10,000 according to the Sudanese Government,<ref name=disputed>{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/23848444/ns/world_news-africa/t/death-toll-disputed-darfur/|title=Death toll disputed in Darfur|publisher=[[NBC News]]|date=28 March 2008|access-date=30 October 2013}}</ref> but most sources suggest between 200,000<ref name="conflict1">{{cite news|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3496731.stm|work=BBC News|title=Q&A: Sudan's Darfur conflict|date=23 February 2010|access-date=20 May 2010}}</ref> and 400,000.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/sudan/|title=Africa :: Sudan — The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency|website=www.cia.gov|date=2 November 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200511/28/eng20051128_224254.html|title=Darfur peace talks to resume in Abuja on Tuesday: AU|work=People's Daily Online|access-date=4 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/10/AR2007041001775.html|work=[[The Washington Post]]|title=Hundreds Killed in Attacks in Eastern Chad|date=11 April 2007|access-date=20 May 2010}}</ref> During his presidency, there have been several violent struggles between the [[Janjaweed]] militia and rebel groups such as the [[Sudan Liberation Movement/Army|Sudanese Liberation Army]] (SLA) and the [[Justice and Equality Movement]] (JEM) in the form of [[guerrilla warfare]] in the Darfur region. The civil war displaced<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/15/AR2006101500655.html|title=AUF Ineffective, Complain Refugees in Darfur|access-date=4 March 2009|work=The Washington Post|date=16 October 2006|author=Alfred de Montesquiou|author-link=Alfred de Montesquiou}}</ref> over {{Nowrap|2.5 million people}} out of a total population of 6.2 million in Darfur<ref>[http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/sudan_darfuroverview.html Darfur – overview], unicef.org.</ref> and created a crisis in the [[Chad–Sudan relations|diplomatic relations]] between Sudan and Chad.<ref>{{cite news|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7394422.stm|work=BBC News|title=Sudan cuts Chad ties over attack|date=11 May 2008|access-date=20 May 2010}}</ref> The rebels in Darfur lost the support from Libya after the death of [[Muammar Gaddafi]] and the collapse of his regime in 2011.<ref>{{cite web|last=Copnall|first=James|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15471734 |title=Sudan armed Libyan rebels, says President Bashir|work=BBC News |date=26 November 2011|access-date=30 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|agency=Reuters|url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/libya-leader-thanks-sudan-for-weapons-that-helped-former-rebels-oust-gadhafi-1.397764|title=Libya leader thanks Sudan for weapons that helped former rebels oust Gadhafi|work=[[Haaretz]]|date=26 November 2011|access-date=30 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/sdtoc.html|title=Sudan: Country Studies |publisher= Federal Research Division, [[Library of Congress]]|date=22 March 2011|access-date=30 October 2013}}</ref>

In July 2008, the prosecutor of the [[International Criminal Court]] (ICC), [[Luis Moreno Ocampo]], accused al-Bashir of [[genocide]], [[crimes against humanity]], and [[war crime]]s in Darfur.<ref name=ocampo>{{cite web|url=http://www.icc-cpi.int/menus/icc/press%20and%20media/press%20releases/press%20releases%20(2008)|title=ICC Prosecutor presents case against Sudanese President, Hassan Ahmad AL BASHIR, for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur|access-date=14 March 2009|author=International Criminal Court|author-link=International Criminal Court|date=14 July 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090825232557/http://www.icc-cpi.int/menus/icc/press%20and%20media/press%20releases/press%20releases%20%282008%29/a|archive-date=25 August 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> The court issued an [[arrest warrant]] for al-Bashir on {{Nowrap|4 March}} 2009 on counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, but ruled that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute him for genocide.<ref name=ICC-warrant/><ref name=BBC1>{{cite news|work=BBC News|date=4 March 2009|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7923102.stm|title=Warrant issued for Sudan's Bashir|access-date=4 March 2009}}</ref> However, on 12 July 2010, the Court issued a second warrant containing three separate counts of genocide. The new warrant, like the first, was delivered to the [[Politics of Sudan|Sudanese government]], which did not recognize either the warrant or the ICC.<ref name=BBC1/> The indictments do not allege that Bashir personally took part in such activities; instead, they say that he is "suspected of being criminally responsible, as an indirect co-perpetrator".<ref name="theguardian.com">{{cite news|author=Simon Tisdall|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/20/omar-al-bashir-sudan-darfur |title=Omar al-Bashir: genocidal mastermind or bringer of peace?|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=20 April 2011|access-date=3 November 2013|author-link=Simon Tisdall }}</ref> The court's decision was opposed by the [[African Union]], [[Arab League]] and [[Non-Aligned Movement]] as well as the governments of Libya, Somalia, Jordan, Turkey, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Lebanon, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and the Netherlands.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nation.co.ke/News/africa/-/1066/542156/-/item/1/-/io2xh7/-/index.html|title=After Bashir warrant, Sudan united in protest|author=HENRY OWUOR in Khartoum|date=5 March 2009|access-date=4 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL34665.pdf|title=International Criminal Court Cases in Africa: Status and Policy Issues|access-date=25 May 2018}}</ref>

From December 2018 onwards, al-Bashir faced [[Sudanese Revolution|large-scale protests]] which demanded his removal from power. On 11 April 2019, Bashir was [[2019 Sudanese coup d'état|ousted]] in a military coup d'état.<ref name="ThReut_BashirResigns_11April2019">{{cite web |last1=Abdelaziz|first1=Khalid |first2=Ali |last2=Abdelaty |first3=Mohamed |last3=El Sherif |first4=Yousef |last4=Saba |first5=Michelle |last5=Nichols |first6=Sami |last6=Aboudi |first7=Aidan |last7=Lewis |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sudan-politics/sudans-bashir-forced-to-step-down-sources-say-idUSKCN1RN0AY|title=Sudan's Bashir Forced to Step Down|date=11 April 2019|publisher=[[Reuters]]|access-date=11 April 2019|url-status=live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191219204025/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sudan-politics/sudans-bashir-forced-to-step-down-sources-say-idUSKCN1RN0AY|archive-date=19 December 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Hassan|first1=Mai|last2=Kodouda|first2=Ahmed|date=11 October 2019|title=Sudan's Uprising: The Fall of a Dictator|journal=Journal of Democracy|language=en|volume=30|issue=4|pages=89–103|doi=10.1353/jod.2019.0071|issn=1086-3214|doi-access=free}}</ref> In September 2019, Bashir was replaced by the [[Transitional Military Council (2019)|Transitionary Military Council]] which transferred executive power to a mixed civilian–military [[Sovereignty Council of Sudan|Sovereignty Council]] and a civilian prime minister, [[Abdalla Hamdok]]. Two months later, the [[Forces of Freedom and Change]] alliance (which holds indirect political power during the [[2019 Sudanese transition to democracy|39-month Sudanese transition to democracy]]), Hamdok, and Sovereignty Council member [[Siddiq Tawer]] stated that Bashir would be eventually transferred to the ICC. He was convicted of corruption in December of that year and sentenced to two years in a prison for the elderly.<ref name="Dabanga_FCC_Bashir2ICC" /><ref name="SudTrib_Hamdok_Bashir2ICC" /><ref name="SudTrib_Tawer_Bashir_handover" /> His trial regarding his role in the coup that brought him into power started on 21 July 2020.<ref name="auto">{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-53474152|title=Sudan's ex-President Bashir on trial for 1989 coup|work=BBC News|date=21 July 2020}}</ref>

==Early and family life==

Al-Bashir was born in [[Hosh Bannaga]], a village on the outskirts of [[Shendi]], just north of the capital, [[Khartoum]], to a family of [[Afro-Arab|African-Arab]] descent. His mother was Hedieh Mohamed al-Zain, who died in 2019. His father, Hassan ibn Ahmed, was a smalltime dairy farmer.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sfha1.com/34720|title=البشير يحضر جنازة والدته وسط حراسة أمنية مشددة|website=صفحة أولى}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sudannews365.org/27796|title=البشير يحضر مراسم دفن والدته.. وجدل على 'تويتر'|website=السودان نيوز 365|date=30 July 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://watan-day.com/news/61028.html|title=البشير يحضر مراسم دفن والدته|date=30 July 2019}}</ref> His uncle, [[Al Taib Mustafa]], was a journalist, politician, and noted opponent of South Sudan.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://aawsat.com/home/article/2976541/وفاة-خال-البشير-أبرز-خصوم-جنوب-السودان|title=وفاة خال البشير... أبرز خصوم جنوب السودان|work=Asharq Al-Awsat|date=2021-05-16|access-date=2021-12-06|language=ar}}</ref> As a boy, he was nicknamed 'Omeira' - Little Omar.<ref name="early">{{cite web |title=Omar Al-Bashir and Africa's Longest War |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Omar_Al_Bashir_and_Africa_s_Longest_War/_X-uCAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=hosh+bannaga&pg=PP96&printsec=frontcover |publisher=United Kingdom: Pen & Sword Books|date=April 30, 2015|last=Moorcraft|first=Paul}}</ref> He belongs to [[Bedaria tribe|Banu Bedaria]], a [[Bedouin]] tribe belonging to the larger [[Ja'alin]] coalition,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-16010445|title=Omar al-Bashir: Sudan's ousted president|website=BBC|date=14 August 2019}}</ref> an [[Arabized]] [[Nubians|Nubian]] tribe in middle north of Sudan (once a part of the [[Anglo-Egyptian Sudan|Kingdom of Egypt and Sudan]]). As a child, Al-Bashir loved soccer. "Always in defence," a cousin said. "That's why he went into the army." The pun seemed to work in both [[English language|English]] and Arabic. He received his primary education there, and his family later moved to [[Khartoum North]] where he completed his secondary education and became a supporter of [[Al-Hilal Club (Omdurman)|Al-Hilal]]. Al-Bashir is married to his cousin Fatima Khalid. He also has a [[Polygamy#Africa|second wife]] named Widad Babiker Omer, who had a number of children with her first husband Ibrahim Shamsaddin, a member of the [[Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation]] who had died in a helicopter crash. Al-Bashir does not have any children of his own.<ref>{{cite news|author=Fred Bridgland|title=President Bashir, you are hereby charged...|url= http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/world/President-Bashir-you-are-hereby.4287299.jp|work=[[The Scotsman]]|date=14 July 2008|access-date=15 July 2008|author-link=Fred Bridgland}}</ref><ref name="early" />

In 1975, Al-Bashir was sent to the United Arab Emirates as the Sudanese [[military attaché]]. When he returned home, al-Bashir was made a garrison commander. In 1981, al-Bashir returned to his paratroop background when he became the commander of an armored parachute brigade.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2009/03/20093485834634368|title=Profile: Omar al-Bashir|access-date=17 December 2014}}</ref>

The Sudanese Ministry of Defense website says that al-Bashir was in the Western Command from 1967–1969 and then the Airborne Forces from 1969–1987 until he was appointed Commander of the 8th Infantry Brigade (independent) from the period 1987 to 30 June 1989.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://mod.gov.sd/section-blog/25-قادة-القوات-المسلحة.html|title=Example of Section Blog layout (FAQ section)|date=17 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140417163651/http://mod.gov.sd/section-blog/25-قادة-القوات-المسلحة.html|archive-date=17 April 2014}}</ref>

==Presidency==

===Coup d'état===

{{main|1989 Sudanese coup d'état}}

When he returned to Sudan as a colonel in the [[Military of Sudan|Sudanese Army]], al-Bashir led a group of army officers in ousting the unstable coalition government of Prime Minister [[Sadiq al-Mahdi]] in a bloodless [[coup d'état|military coup]] on {{Nowrap|30 June}} 1989.<ref name=reuters-factbox/> Under al-Bashir's leadership, the new military government suspended political parties and introduced an Islamic legal code on the national level.<ref>{{cite news|last=Bekele|first=Yilma|title=Chickens are coming home to roost!|url=http://www.ethiopianreview.com/content/2929|work=[[Ethiopian Review]]|date=12 July 2008|access-date=15 July 2008}}</ref> He then became Chairman of the [[Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation]] (a newly established body with legislative and executive powers for what was described as a transitional period), and assumed the posts of [[chief of state]], prime minister, chief of the armed forces, and [[Minister of Defence (Sudan)|Minister of Defence]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Cowell|first=Alan|title= Military Coup in Sudan Ousts Civilian Regime|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE4DA103DF932A35754C0A96F948260|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=1 July 1989|access-date=15 July 2008}}</ref> Subsequent to al-Bashir's promotion to the Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation, he allied himself with [[Hassan al-Turabi]], the leader of the [[National Islamic Front]], who, along with al-Bashir, began institutionalizing [[Sharia|Sharia law]] in the northern part of Sudan. Further on, al-Bashir issued purges and executions of people whom he alleged to be coup leaders in the upper ranks of the army, the banning of associations, political parties, and independent newspapers, as well as the imprisonment of leading political figures and journalists.<ref>Kepel, ''Jihad'' (2002), p.181</ref>

[[File:Bashir arrives - Flickr - Al Jazeera English.jpg|thumb|Bashir arrives in the Southern capital [[Juba]], 2011]]

On 16 October 1993, al-Bashir's powers increased when he appointed himself [[List of Presidents of Sudan|President]] of the country, after which he disbanded the [[Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation]] and all other rival political parties. The executive and legislative powers of the council were later given to al-Bashir completely.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jul/14/sudan.warcrimes3|work=The Guardian|location=London|title=Profile: Omar al-Bashir|first=Peter|last=Walker|date=14 July 2008|access-date=20 May 2010}}</ref> In the early 1990s, al-Bashir's administration gave the green light to float a new currency called [[Sudanese dinar]] to replace the battered old [[Sudanese pound]] that had lost 90 percent of its worth during the turbulent 1980s; the currency was later changed back to pounds, but at a much higher rate. He was later elected president (with a five-year term) in the 1996 national election, where he was the only candidate by law to run for election.<ref name="ReferenceB">''New York Times'', {{Nowrap|16 March}} 1996, p.4</ref>

===Elections===

Omar al-Bashir was elected president (with a five-year term) in the 1996 national election<ref name="ReferenceB"/> 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".<ref name=appendix>The Appendix of the ''[[9/11 Commission Report]]''</ref> In 1998, al-Bashir and the Presidential Committee put into effect a new constitution, allowing limited political associations in opposition to al-Bashir's [[National Congress Party (Sudan)|National Congress Party]] and his supporters to be formed. On {{Nowrap|12 December}} 1999, al-Bashir sent troops and tanks against parliament and ousted [[Hassan al-Turabi]], the speaker of parliament, in a [[palace coup]].<ref name="Stefano Bellucci 2000">Stefano Bellucci, "Islam and Democracy: The 1999 Palace Coup," ''Middle East Policy'' 7, no. 3 (June 2000):168</ref>

He was reelected by popular vote for a five-year term in presidential elections held on 13–23 December 2000.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://workmall.com/wfb2001/sudan/sudan_government.html|title=Sudan Government 2001 – Flags, Maps, Economy, Geography, Climate, Natural Resources, Current Issues, International Agreements, Population, Social Statistics, Political System |publisher=Workmall.com|access-date=30 October 2013}}</ref>

From 2005 to 2010, a transitional government was set up under a 2005 peace accord that ended more than two decades of north–south civil war and saw the formation of a power-sharing agreement between Salva Kiir's [[SPLM]] and Al Bashir's [[National Congress (Sudan)|National Congress Party]] (NCP).<ref name="aljazeera.com">{{cite web|url= http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2010/04/201042612282143933.html|title=Sudan president wins re-election|publisher=[[Al Jazeera]]|date=27 April 2010|access-date=30 October 2013}}</ref>

In the first multi-party election, al-Bashir was reelected president in the 2010 presidential election;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.electionguide.org/countries/id/202/ |title=IFES Election Guide | Country Profile: Sudan |publisher=Electionguide.org |access-date=30 October 2013}}</ref> while Salva Kiir, the leader of the former rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement ([[SPLM]]), won re-election in the presidential poll in what was Sudan's semi-autonomous southern region. These elections were agreed on earlier in the 2005 peace accord that ended more than two decades of north-south civil war.<ref name="aljazeera.com"/>

Al-Bashir won 68% of the popular vote in the 2010 election. However, the election was marked by corruption, intimidation, and inequality. European observers, from the EU and the Carter Centre, criticised the polls as "not meeting international standards". Candidates opposed to the SPLM said they were often detained, or stopped from campaigning. Sudan Democracy First, an umbrella organisation in the north, put forward what it called strong evidence of rigging by al-Bashir's National Congress Party. The Sudanese Network for Democracy and Elections (Sunde) spoke of harassment and intimidation in the south, by the security forces of the SPLM.<ref name="news.bbc.co.uk"/>

Al-Bashir had achieved economic growth in Sudan.<ref name="Gettleman">{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/24/world/africa/24sudan.html|work=The New York Times |title=War in Sudan? Not Where the Oil Wealth Flows|first=Jeffrey|last=Gettleman|date=24 October 2006|access-date=20 May 2010|author-link=Jeffrey Gettleman }}</ref> This was pushed further by the drilling and extraction of oil-<ref name="Gettleman"/> However, economic growth has not been shared by all. Headline inflation in 2012 approached the threshold of chronic inflation (period average 36%), about 11% up from the budget projection of 2012 reflecting the combined effects of inflationary financing, the depreciation of the exchange rate, and the continued removal of subsidies, as well as high food and energy prices. This economic downturn prompted cost of living riots that erupted into [[Arab Spring]]-style anti-government demonstrations, raising discontent within the [[Sudanese Workers' Trade Union Federation]] (SWTUF). They threatened to hold nationwide strikes in support of higher wages. The continued deterioration in the value of the Sudanese pound (SDG) posed grave downside risks to already soaring inflation. This, coupled with the economic slowdown, presents serious challenges to the implementation of the approved Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (I-PRSP).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.africaneconomicoutlook.org/en/countries/east-africa/sudan/|title=Sudan|access-date=17 December 2014}}</ref>

===Tensions with Hassan al-Turabi===

In the mid-1990s, a feud between al-Bashir and al-Turabi began, mostly due to al-Turabi's links to [[Islamic fundamentalism|Islamic fundamentalist]] groups, as well as allowing them to operate out of Sudan, even personally inviting [[Osama bin Laden]] to the country.<ref>{{Cite news|last = Shahzad|title = Bin Laden uses Iraq to plot new attacks|work = Asia Times|access-date = 2 December 2007|date = 23 February 2002|url = http://www.atimes.com/c-asia/DB23Ag02.html|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20021020093406/http://www.atimes.com/c-asia/DB23Ag02.html|url-status = unfit|archive-date = 20 October 2002}}</ref> The United States had listed Sudan as a [[State Sponsors of Terrorism|state sponsor of terrorism]] since 1993,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,258413,00.html|title=Families of USS Cole Victims Sue Sudan for $105 Million|work=Fox News|access-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106163604/https://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,258413,00.html|archive-date=6 November 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> mostly due to al-Bashir and Hassan al-Turabi taking complete power in the early 1990s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.atimes.com/c-asia/DB23Ag02.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021020093406/http://www.atimes.com/c-asia/DB23Ag02.html|url-status=unfit|archive-date=2002-10-20|title=Bin Laden uses Iraq to plot new attacks|work=atimes.com}}</ref> U.S. firms have been barred from doing business in Sudan since 1997.<ref>{{Cite news| last = Spetalnick| first = Matt| title = U.S. lifts Sudan sanctions, wins commitment against arms deals with North Korea| work = Reuters| access-date = 25 May 2018| date = 7 October 2017| url = https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sudan-usa-sanctions/u-s-lifts-sanctions-on-sudan-official-idUSKBN1CB26Q}}</ref> In 1998, the [[Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory]] in [[Khartoum]] was destroyed by a U.S. [[cruise missile]] strike because of its alleged production of [[chemical weapon]]s and links to [[al-Qaeda]]. However the U.S. State Department [[Bureau of Intelligence and Research]] wrote a report in 1999 questioning the attack on the factory, suggesting that the connection to bin Laden was not accurate; James Risen reported in ''[[The New York Times]]'': "Now, the analysts renewed their doubts and told Assistant Secretary of State [[Phyllis Oakley]] that the C.I.A.'s evidence on which the attack was based was inadequate. Ms. Oakley asked them to double-check; perhaps there was some intelligence they had not yet seen. The answer came back quickly: There was no additional evidence. Ms. Oakley called a meeting of key aides and a consensus emerged: Contrary to what the Administration was saying, the case tying Al Shifa to Mr. bin Laden or to chemical weapons was weak."<ref>{{cite web|author=Risen, James|date=27 October 1999|title=To Bomb Sudan Plant, or Not: A Year Later, Debates Rankle|url=https://www.nytimes.com/library/world/africa/102799us-sudan.html|work=The New York Times}}</ref>

After being re-elected president of Sudan with a five-year-term in the [[1996 Sudanese general election|1996 election]] with 75.7% of the votes,<ref name=BBCprofile>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3273569.stm|work=BBC News|title=Profile: Sudan's President Bashir|date=25 November 2003|access-date=20 May 2010}}</ref> al-Bashir issued the registration of legalised political parties in 1999 after being influenced by al-Turabi. Rival parties such as the [[Liberal Democrats (Sudan)|Liberal Democrats of Sudan]] and the Alliance of the Peoples' Working Forces, headed by former Sudanese President [[Gaafar Nimeiry]], were established and were allowed to run for election against al-Bashir's [[National Congress Party (Sudan)|National Congress Party]], however, they failed to achieve significant support, and al-Bashir was re-elected President, receiving 86.5% of the vote in the [[Elections in Sudan|2000 presidential election]]. At the [[2000 Sudanese general election|legislative elections]] that same year, al-Bashir's National Congress Party won 355 out of 360 seats, with al-Turabi as its chairman. However, after al-Turabi introduced a bill to reduce the president's powers, prompting al-Bashir to dissolve parliament and declare a [[state of emergency]], tensions began to rise between al-Bashir and al-Turabi. Reportedly, al-Turabi was suspended as Chairman of National Congress Party, after he urged a boycott of the President's re-election campaign. Then, a splinter-faction led by al-Turabi, the Popular National Congress Party (PNC) signed an agreement with [[Sudan People's Liberation Army]], which led al-Bashir to believe that they were plotting to overthrow him and the government.<ref name="BBCprofile"/>

Further on, al-Turabi's influence and that of his party's "'internationalist' and ideological wing" waned "in favor of the 'nationalist' or more pragmatic leaders who focus on trying to recover from Sudan's disastrous [[international isolation]] and economic damage that resulted from ideological adventurism".<ref>Fuller, ''The Future of Political Islam'', (2003), p.111</ref> At the same time, Sudan worked to appease the United States and other international critics by expelling members of [[Egyptian Islamic Jihad]] and encouraging bin Laden to leave.<ref>Wright, ''The Looming Tower'', (2006), pp.221–3</ref>

On al-Bashir's orders, al-Turabi was imprisoned based on allegations of conspiracy in 2000 before being released in October 2003.<ref name=Denies>Wasil Ali, [http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article27123 "Sudanese Islamist opposition leader denies link with Darfur rebels"], ''Sudan Tribune'', {{Nowrap|13 May}} 2008.</ref> Al-Turabi was again imprisoned in March 2004<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3190770.stm|title=Profile: Sudan's Islamist leader|date=15 January 2009|work=BBC|access-date=15 December 2019|language=en-GB}}</ref> and released in July 2005, at the height of the peace agreement in the civil war.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oSJoDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1521|title=Political Handbook of the World 2018–2019|last=Lansford|first=Tom|date=19 March 2019|publisher=CQ Press|isbn=978-1-5443-2713-6|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.france24.com/en/20090309-head-opposition-backs-iccs-arrest-warrant-bashir-|title=Head of opposition backs ICC's arrest warrant for Bashir|date=9 March 2009|work=France 24|access-date=15 December 2019|agency=AFP|language=en}}</ref>

===Engagement with the U.S. and European countries===

[[File:Al bashir1.jpg|thumb|Bashir and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State [[Robert Zoellick]], 2005]]

From the early 1990s, after al-Bashir assumed power, Sudan backed Iraq in its [[Gulf War|invasion of Kuwait]]<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/10/04/world/sudanese-brigades-could-provide-key-aid-for-iraq-military-analysis.html|title=Sudanese Brigades Could Provide Key Aid for Iraq; Military Analysis|last=Middleton|first=Drew|date=4 October 1982|work=The New York Times|access-date=16 December 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/08/26/world/after-the-attacks-the-connection-iraqi-deal-with-sudan-on-nerve-gas-is-reported.html|title=After the Attacks: The Connection; Iraqi Deal with Sudan on Nerve Gas Is Reported|last=Perlez|first=Jane|date=26 August 1998|work=The New York Times|access-date=16 December 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and was accused of harboring and providing sanctuary and assistance to Islamic terrorist groups. [[Carlos the Jackal]], [[Osama bin Laden]], [[Abu Nidal]] and others labeled "terrorist leaders" by the United States and its allies resided in Khartoum. Sudan's role in the radical Pan-Arab Islamic Conference, spearheaded by [[Hassan al-Turabi]], represented a matter of great concern to the security of American officials and dependents in Khartoum, resulting in several reductions and evacuations of American personnel from Khartoum in the early to mid 1990s.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sd.usembassy.gov/our-relationship/policy-history/us-sudan-relations/|title=U.S. – Sudan Relations|website=U.S. Embassy in Sudan|language=en-US|access-date=16 December 2019}}</ref>

Sudan's Islamist links with international terrorist organizations represented a special matter of concern for the American government, leading to Sudan's 1993 designation as a state sponsor of terrorism and a suspension of U.S. Embassy operations in Khartoum in 1996. In late 1994, in an initial effort to reverse his nation's growing image throughout the world as a country harboring terrorists, Bashir secretly cooperated with French special forces to orchestrate the capture and arrest on Sudanese soil of [[Carlos the Jackal]].<ref>{{cite news| url=https://articles.latimes.com/1994-08-21/news/mn-29612_1_carlos-the-jackal| title=Carlos the Jackal Reportedly Arrested During Liposuction| work=Los Angeles Times| date=21 August 1994}}</ref>

[[File:Bashir letter to Hamilton.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Sudan's offer of and request for counter-terrorism assistance, April 1997]]

In early 1996, al-Bashir authorized his Defense Minister at the time, El Fatih Erwa, to make a series of secret trips to the United States<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/specials/attacked/transcripts/sudanmemotext_100301.html|title=1996 CIA Memo to Sudanese Official|work=The Washington Post|date=3 October 2001}}</ref> 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. Erwa was presented with a series of demands from the United States, including demands for information about [[Osama bin Laden]] and other radical Islamic groups. The US demand list also encouraged Bashir's regime to move away from activities, such as hosting the "PAIC" Islamic Conference, that impinged on Sudanese efforts to reconcile with the West. Sudan's Mukhabarat (central intelligence agency) spent half a decade amassing intelligence data on bin Laden and a wide array of Islamists through their periodic annual visits for the PAIC conferences.<ref>{{cite news| url= https://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2002/01/osama200201|title=The Osama Files|work=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]|date=January 2002}}</ref> In May 1996, after the series of Erwa secret meetings on US soil, the Clinton Administration demanded that Sudan expel Bin Laden. Bashir complied.<ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a051896sudan|title=Sudan Expels Bin Laden|publisher=[[History Commons]]|date=18 May 1996}}</ref>

Controversy erupted about whether Sudan had offered to extradite bin Laden in return for rescinding American sanctions that were interfering with Sudan's plans to develop oil fields in southern areas of the country. American officials insisted the secret meetings were agreed only to pressure Sudan into compliance on a range of anti-terrorism issues. The Sudanese insisted that an offer to extradite bin Laden had been made in a secret one-on-one meeting at a Fairfax hotel between Erwa and the then [[CIA]] Africa Bureau chief on condition that Washington end sanctions against Bashir's regime. Amb. [[Timothy M. Carney]] attended one of the Fairfax hotel meetings. In a joint opinion piece in the Washington Post Outlook Section in 2003, Carney and Ijaz argued that in fact the Sudanese had offered to extradite bin Laden to a third country in exchange for sanctions relief.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A64828-2002Jun29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111124205748/http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A64828-2002Jun29|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 November 2011|title=Intelligence Failure? Let's Go Back to Sudan|last=Carney |first=Timothy|author2=Mansoor Ijaz |date=30 June 2002|work=The Washington Post|access-date=1 December 2008|author2-link=Mansoor Ijaz}}</ref>

In August 1996, American hedge-fund manager [[Mansoor Ijaz]] traveled to the Sudan and met with senior officials including al-Turabi and al-Bashir. Ijaz asked Sudanese officials to share intelligence data with US officials on bin Laden and other Islamists who had traveled to and from the Sudan during the previous five years. Ijaz conveyed his findings to US officials upon his return, including [[Sandy Berger]], then Clinton's deputy national security adviser, and argued for the US to constructively engage the Sudanese and other Islamic countries.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-718226.html
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140611025526/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-718226.html
|url-status=dead
|archive-date=11 June 2014
|title=Democratic Fundraiser Pursues Agenda on Sudan|work=The Washington Post|date=29 April 1997}}</ref> In April 1997, Ijaz persuaded al-Bashir to make an unconditional offer of counterterrorism assistance in the form of a signed presidential letter that Ijaz delivered to Congressman [[Lee H. Hamilton]] by hand.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://articles.latimes.com/1998/sep/30/local/me-27946|title=Olive Branch Ignored|first=Mansoor|last=Ijaz|work=Los Angeles Times|date=30 September 1998}}</ref>

In late September 1997, months after the Sudanese overture (made by al-Bashir in the letter to Hamilton), the U.S. State Department, under Secretary of State [[Madeleine Albright]]'s directive, first announced it would return American diplomats to Khartoum to pursue counterterrorism data in the [[Mukhabarat]]'s possession. Within days, the U.S. reversed that decision<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/2002/06/30/intelligence-failure-lets-go-back-to-sudan/1b8e47a7-a603-4657-aef9-ffb4c4b83276/|title=Intelligence Failure? Let's Go Back to Sudan|last1=Carney|first1=Timothy|date=30 June 2002|work=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=17 December 2019|last2=Ijaz|first2=Mansoor|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286}}</ref> and imposed harsher and more comprehensive economic, trade, and financial sanctions against the Sudan, which went into effect in October 1997.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Malik|first1=Mohamed|last2=Malik|first2=Malik|date=18 March 2015|title=The Efficacy of United States Sanctions on the Republic of Sudan|journal=Journal of Georgetown University-Qatar Middle Eastern Studies Student Association|language=en|volume=2015|issue=1|pages=3|doi=10.5339/messa.2015.7|issn=2311-8148}}</ref> In August 1998, in the wake of the [[1998 United States embassy bombings|East Africa embassy bombings]], the U.S. launched [[Operation Infinite Reach|cruise missile strikes]] against Khartoum.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://edition.cnn.com/US/9808/21/air.strikes.02/|title=Pakistan lodges protest over U.S. missile strikes|last1=McIntyre|first1=Jamie|last2=Koppel|first2=Andrea|date=21 August 1998|website=CNN|access-date=15 December 2019}}</ref> The last U.S. Ambassador to the Sudan, Ambassador [[Timothy M. Carney|Tim Carney]], departed post in February 1996<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/losingbinladen0000mini|url-access=registration|title=Losing Bin Laden: How Bill Clinton's Failures Unleashed Global Terror|last=Miniter|first=Richard|date=1 August 2003|publisher=Regnery Publishing|isbn=978-0-89526-074-1|pages=[https://archive.org/details/losingbinladen0000mini/page/114 114], 140|language=en}}</ref> and no new ambassador was designated until December 2019, when U.S. president [[Donald Trump]]'s administration reached an agreement with the new Sudanese government to exchange ambassadors.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/04/us/politics/trump-sudan-diplomacy.html|title=Trump Administration Moves to Upgrade Diplomatic Ties With Sudan|last=Wong|first=Edward|date=4 December 2019|work=The New York Times|access-date=15 December 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Al-Bashir announced in August 2015 that he would travel to New York in September to speak at the United Nations. It was unclear to date if al-Bashir would have been allowed to travel, due to previous sanctions.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://ewn.co.za/2015/08/04/Omar-alBashir-to-speak-at-UN-Summit-in-New-York | title=Omar al-Bashir to speak at UN Summit in New York | work=Eyewitness News | access-date=5 August 2015}}</ref>

===South Sudan===

{{main|Second Sudanese Civil War}}

[[File:The coming vote - Flickr - Al Jazeera English.jpg|thumb|[[2011 South Sudanese independence referendum]]]]

The Civil war had raged between the northern and southern halves of the country for more than 19 years between the northern African-[[Arab]] tribes and southern [[Nilotic]] African tribes, but the war soon effectively developed into a struggle between the [[Sudan People's Liberation Army]] and al-Bashir's government. The war resulted in millions of southerners being displaced, starved, and deprived of education and health care, with almost two million casualties.<ref>{{cite web|title=The U.S. Committee for Refugees Crisis in Sudan|url=http://www.refugees.org/news/crisis/sudan.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041210024759/http://www.refugees.org/news/crisis/sudan.htm|archive-date=10 December 2004}}</ref> Because of these actions, various international sanctions were placed on Sudan. International pressure intensified in 2001, however, and leaders from the United Nations called for al-Bashir to make efforts to end the conflict and allow humanitarian and international workers to deliver relief to the southern regions of Sudan.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Morrison|first1=J. Stephen|first2=Alex|last2=de Waal |chapter=Can Sudan Escape its Intractability?|title=Grasping the Nettle: Analyzing Cases of Intractable Conflict|editor-last=Crocker|editor-first=Chester A.|editor2-first=Fen Osler|editor2-last=Hampson|editor3-first=Pamela|editor3-last=Aall|location=Washington, DC|publisher=[[United States Institute of Peace]]|year=2005|page=162}}</ref> Much progress was made throughout 2003. The peace was consolidated with the official signing by both sides of the [[Naivasha Agreement|Nairobi Comprehensive Peace Agreement]] 9 January 2005, granting [[Southern Sudan]] autonomy for six years, to be followed by a referendum about independence. It created a co-vice president position and allowed the north and south to split oil deposits equally, but also left both the north's and south's armies in place. [[John Garang]], the south's peace agreement appointed co-vice president, died in a helicopter crash on {{Nowrap|1 August}} 2005, three weeks after being sworn in.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4126370.stm|work=[[BBC News]]|title=Sudan bids rebel leader farewell|date=6 August 2005|access-date=20 May 2010}}</ref> This resulted in riots, but the peace was eventually re-established<ref>{{cite news|title=Peace prospects in Sudan|url=http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?page=imprimable&id_article=1761|agency=[[The New Humanitarian|IRIN]]|date=12 February 2004|access-date=15 July 2008}}</ref> and allowed the southerners to vote in a referendum of independence at the end of the six-year period.<ref>{{cite news|title=Sudanese flesh out final deal
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3723812.stm|work=BBC News|date=7 October 2004|access-date=15 July 2008}}</ref> On 9 July 2011, following a referendum, the region of Southern Sudan separated into an independent country known as South Sudan.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/10/world/africa/10sudan.html|title=After Years of Struggle, South Sudan Becomes a New Nation|last=Gettleman|first=Jeffrey|date=9 July 2011|work=The New York Times|access-date=15 December 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

===War in Darfur===

{{main|War in Darfur}}

[[File:Darfur report - Page 4 Image 2.jpg|thumb|140px|Series of [[Water conflict|droughts in Darfur]] led to disputes over land between non-Arab sedentary farmers and Arab [[Janjaweed]] nomads (see illustrative photo).]]

Since 1968, Sudanese politicians had attempted to create separate factions of "Africans" and "Arabs" in the western area of [[Darfur]], a difficult task as the population were substantially intermarried and could not be distinguished by skin tone. This internal political instability was aggravated by cross-border conflicts with Chad and Libya<ref>Prunier, G., ''The Ambiguous Genocide'', Ithaca, NY, 2005, pp. 42–44</ref> and the 1984–85 Darfur famine.<ref>Prunier, pp. 47–52</ref> In 2003, the [[Justice and Equality Movement]] and the [[Sudanese Liberation Army]], accusing the government of neglecting Darfur and oppressing non-Arab tribes in favor of Nubian Arab tribes, began an armed insurgency.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ft.com/content/aec55c60-5c5f-11e9-9dde-7aedca0a081a|title=Bashir: Sudan's autocrat turned pariah leaves ruptured country|last=Pilling|first=David|date=11 April 2019|website=Financial Times|access-date=16 December 2019}}</ref>

Estimates vary of the number of deaths resulting from attacks on the non-Arab/Arabized population by the [[Janjaweed]] militia: the Sudanese government claim that up to 10,000 have been killed in this conflict; the United Nations reported that about 300,000 had died as of 2010,<ref name="conflict1"/> and other reports place the figures at between 200,000 and 400,000.<ref name=disputed/> During an interview with [[David Frost]] for the [[Al Jazeera English]] programme [[Frost Over The World]] in June 2008, al-Bashir insisted that no more than 10,000 had died in Darfur.<ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/frostovertheworld/2008/06/200862384837263451.html|publisher=[[Al Jazeera]]|title=Frost Over the World – Darfur special|date=21 September 2008}}</ref>

The Sudanese government had been accused of suppressing information by jailing and killing witnesses since 2004, and tampering with evidence, such as covering up [[mass grave]]s.<ref>{{cite news|title=The horrors of Darfur's ground zero|url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21803054-2703,00.html|date=28 May 2007|work=[[The Australian]]|first1=A Mass|last1=Grave|access-date=18 January 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090204164027/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21803054-2703,00.html|archive-date=4 February 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Darfur Destroyed – Summary|url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/2004/05/06/darfur-destroyed-0|date=7 May 2004|publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Darfur Destroyed – Destroying Evidence? |url=https://hrw.org/reports/2005/darfur1205/8.htm#_Toc121546245|date=June 2004 |publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]]}}</ref> The Sudanese government has also arrested and harassed journalists, thus limiting the extent of press coverage of the situation in Darfur.<ref>{{cite news|title=Country of Origin Report: Sudan|url=http://www.unhcr.org/home/RSDCOI/4565711b4.pdf|date=27 October 2006 |publisher=Research, Development and Statistics (RDS), Home Office, UK}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Tribune correspondent charged as spy in Sudan|url=https://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/chi-060826salopek,0,6941372.story?coll=la-home-headlines|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060829214018/http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/chi-060826salopek,0,6941372.story?coll=la-home-headlines|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 August 2006|date=26 August 2006|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=World Press Freedom Review|url=http://www.freemedia.at/cms/ipi/freedom_detail.html?country=/KW0001/KW0004/KW0104/&year=2005|year=2005|publisher=[[International Press Institute]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207205755/http://www.freemedia.at/cms/ipi/freedom_detail.html?country=%2FKW0001%2FKW0004%2FKW0104%2F&year=2005|archive-date=7 February 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Police put on a show of force, but are Darfur's militia killers free to roam? |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article468451.ece|date=12 August 2004 |work=[[The Times]]|location=London|first=Richard|last=Beeston|access-date=20 May 2010}}</ref> While the [[Federal government of the United States|United States government]] has described the conflict as [[genocide]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Darfur: A 'Plan B' to Stop Genocide?|url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/p/af/rls/rm/82941.htm|date=11 April 2007|publisher=[[US Department of State]]|access-date=24 June 2017}}</ref> the UN has not recognized the conflict as such.<ref name="ICDarfur">[https://www.un.org/News/dh/sudan/com_inq_darfur.pdf#search=%22un%20report%20darfur%20genocide%22 Report of the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur to the United Nations Secretary-General (PDF)], United Nations, {{Nowrap|25 January}} 2005</ref> (''see [[International response to the War in Darfur#Declarations of genocide|List of declarations of genocide in Darfur]]'').

The [[United States Government]] stated in September 2004 "that [[genocide]] has been committed in Darfur and that the Government of Sudan and the Janjaweed bear responsibility and that genocide may still be occurring".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8364-2004Sep9.html|title=U.S. Calls Killings in Sudan Genocide|access-date=17 December 2014|work=The Washington Post|first1=Glenn|last1=Kessler|first2=Colum|last2=Lynch|date=10 September 2004}}</ref> On 29 June 2004, U.S. Secretary of State [[Colin Powell]] met with al-Bashir in Sudan and urged him to make peace with the rebels, end the crisis, and lift restrictions on the delivery of humanitarian aid to Darfur.<ref>{{cite news|last=Marquis|first=Christopher|title=Powell to Press Sudan to Ease the Way for Aid in Darfur|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C02E1DA1238F933A05755C0A9629C8B63|date=30 June 2004|access-date=15 July 2008| work=The New York Times}}</ref> [[Kofi Annan]] met with al-Bashir three days later and demanded that he disarm the Janjaweed.<ref>{{cite news|last=Elgabir|first=Nima|title=Sudan rejects 30-day deadline|url=http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=qw1091417584977B235|work=Independent Online|date=2 July 2004|access-date=15 July 2008}}</ref>

After fighting stopped in July and August, on {{Nowrap|31 August}} 2006, the [[United Nations Security Council]] had approved [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1706|Resolution 1706]] which called for a new UN [[peacekeeping]] force consisting of 17,300 military personnel and 3,300 civilians<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/africa/11/17/un.darfur/index.html|title=Sudan warms to Darfur force plan|date=17 November 2006|website=CNN|access-date=17 December 2019}}</ref> and named the [[United Nations–African Union Mission in Darfur]] (UNAMID).<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-burkina-darfur-idUSKBN1300DK|title=Burkina Faso to withdraw Darfur peacekeepers by July|last1=Bonkoungou|first1=Mathieu|date=5 November 2016|work=Reuters|access-date=17 December 2019|last2=Bavier|first2=Joe|editor-last=Evans|editor-first=Catherine|language=en}}</ref> It was intended to supplanted or supplemented a 7,000-troop [[African Union]] [[African Union Mission in Sudan|Mission in Sudan peacekeeping force]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/un-oks-26000-darfur-peacekeepers/|title=U.N. OKs 26,000 Darfur Peacekeepers|date=31 July 2007|work=CBS News|access-date=16 December 2019|agency=Associated Press}}</ref> Sudan strongly objected to the resolution and said that it would see the UN forces in the region as "foreign invaders".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hjUlpPdT0AwC&pg=PT110|title=What's Wrong with the United Nations and How to Fix it|last=Weiss|first=Thomas G.|date=20 May 2013|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0-7456-6146-9|language=en}}</ref> A day after rejecting the UN forces into Sudan, the Sudanese military launched a major offensive in the region.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=a7cd74a8-696f-4e24-852c-374f0d279a9e&k=405|title=Sudan reported to launch new offensive in Darfur|date=1 September 2006|work=Canana.com|access-date=16 December 2019|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311044102/http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=a7cd74a8-696f-4e24-852c-374f0d279a9e&k=405|archive-date=11 March 2007|agency=Associated Press}}</ref> In March 2007, the [[United Nations Human Rights Council]] accused Sudan's government of taking part in "gross violations" in Darfur<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R-lMAgAAQBAJ&pg=SA1-PR22|title=Annual Review of United Nations Affairs 2009/2010|last1=Muller|first1=Joachim|last2=Sauvant|first2=Karl P.|date=2011|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-975911-8|volume=1|pages=xxii|language=en}}</ref> and urged the international community to take urgent action to protect people in Darfur.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sudan-darfur-rights-idUSL1228537420070312|first=Richard|last=Waddington|title=Sudan orchestrated Darfur crimes, U.N. mission says|date=12 March 2007|work=Reuters|access-date=21 January 2020|language=en}}</ref> A high-level technical consultation was held in [[Addis Ababa]], Ethiopia, on 11–{{Nowrap|12 June}} 2007, pursuant to the {{Nowrap|4 June}} 2007 letters of the Secretary-General and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, which were addressed to al-Bashir.<ref>{{cite news|title=Conclusions of the high-level AU UN consultations with the Government of Sudan on the Hybrid Operation |url=http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/SBOI-744R5G?OpenDocument |publisher=[[African Union]]|date=12 July 2007|access-date=15 July 2008}}</ref> The technical consultations were attended by delegations from the Government of Sudan, the [[African Union]], and the United Nations.<ref>{{cite news|last=Lederer|first=Edith M.|title=Sudan accepts plan for joint peacekeeping force for Darfur|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/12/africa/AF-GEN-AU-Sudan.php|agency=Associated Press|date=12 June 2007|access-date=15 July 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/article_3474.shtml |title=Sudanese president answers questions on Darfur|publisher=Finalcall.com|date=14 May 2007|access-date=24 March 2010}}</ref>

[[File:Refugee camp Chad.jpg|thumb|Darfur refugee camp in Chad, 2005]]

In 2009, General [[Martin Luther Agwai]], head of the UNAMID, said the war was over in the region, although low-level disputes remained. "Banditry, localised issues, people trying to resolve issues over water and land at a local level. But real war as such, I think we are over that," he said.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8224424.stm|title=War in Sudan's Darfur 'is over'|work=BBC News|date=27 August 2009|access-date=14 August 2013}}</ref> This perspective is contradicted by reports which indicate that violence continues in Darfur while peace efforts have been stalled repeatedly. Violence between Sudan's military and rebel fighters has beset Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states since disputed state elections in May 2011, an ongoing humanitarian crisis that has prompted international condemnation and U.S. congressional hearings. In 2012, tensions between Sudan and South Sudan reached a boiling point when the Sudanese military bombed territory in South Sudan, leading to hostilities over the disputed Heglig (or Panthou) oil fields located along the Sudan-South Sudan border.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ndi.org/sudan|title=Sudan – NDI|access-date=17 December 2014}}</ref>
Omar al-Bashir sought the assistance of numerous non-western countries after the West, led by America, imposed sanctions against him, he said: "From the first day, our policy was clear: To look eastward, toward China, Malaysia, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, and even Korea and Japan, even if the Western influence upon some [of these] countries is strong. We believe that the Chinese expansion was natural because it filled the space left by Western governments, the United States, and international funding agencies. The success of the Sudanese experiment in dealing with China without political conditions or pressures encouraged other African countries to look toward China."<ref>{{cite news |title=Omar al-Bashir Q&A: 'In Any War, Mistakes Happen on the Ground'|author=Sam Dealey|newspaper=Time|date=14 August 2009|url= http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1916262-5,00.html|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090818190548/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1916262-5,00.html|url-status= dead|archive-date= 18 August 2009|access-date=9 March 2011}}</ref>

Chadian President [[Idriss Deby]] visited Khartoum in 2010 and Chad kicked out the Darfuri rebels it had previously supported. Both Sudanese and Chadian sides together established a joint military border patrol.<ref name=mg>{{cite web|url= http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-02-09-sudan-chad-agree-to-end-proxy-wars|title=Sudan, Chad agree to end proxy wars|work=[[Mail & Guardian]]|date=9 February 2010|access-date=30 October 2013}}</ref>

On 26 October 2011, al-Bashir said that Sudan gave military support to the [[Anti-Gaddafi forces|Libyan rebels]], who overthrew [[Muammar Gaddafi]]. In a speech broadcast live on state television, al-Bashir said the move was in response to Col Gaddafi's support for Sudanese rebels three years ago. Sudan and Libya have had a complicated and frequently antagonistic relationship for many years. President al-Bashir said the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), a Darfuri rebel group, had attacked Khartoum three years ago using Libyan trucks, equipment, arms, ammunition and money. He said God had given Sudan a chance to respond, by sending arms, ammunition and humanitarian support to the Libyan revolutionaries. "Our God, high and exalted, from above the seven skies, gave us the opportunity to reciprocate the visit," he said. "The forces which entered Tripoli, part of their arms and capabilities, were 100% Sudanese," he told the crowd. His speech was well received by a large crowd in the eastern Sudanese town of Kassala. But the easy availability of weapons in Libya, and that country's porous border with Darfur, are also of great concern to the Sudanese authorities.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15471734|title=Sudan armed Libyan rebels, says President Bashir|work=BBC News|date=26 October 2011|access-date=26 October 2011}}</ref>

Al-Bashir in his speech said that his government's priority was to end the armed rebellion and tribal conflicts in order to save blood and direct the energies of young people towards building Sudan instead of "killing and destruction". He called upon youth of the rebel groups to lay down arms and join efforts to build the country.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article48062|title=Bashir vows to end rebellion and tribal clashes before 2015 elections|work=[[Sudan Tribune]]|date= 28 March 2009|access-date=3 November 2013}}</ref> Al Bashir sees himself as a man wronged and misunderstood. He takes full responsibility for the conflict in Darfur, he says, but says that his government did not start the fighting and has done everything in its power to end it.<ref name=theguardian.com/>

Al Bashir had signed two peace agreements for Darfur:
*The 2006 [[Darfur Peace Agreement]], also known as the "Abuja Agreement", was signed on 5 May 2006<ref>{{cite web|last=United Nations|title=UNAMID Background|url=https://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/unamid/background.shtml|access-date=3 May 2012}}</ref> by the government of Sudan along with a faction of the [[Sudan Liberation Movement/Army|SLA]] led by [[Minni Minnawi]]. However, the agreement was rejected by two other, smaller groups, the [[Justice and Equality Movement]] (JEM) and a rival faction of the SLA led by [[Abdul Wahid al Nur]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Conflict Encyclopedia|publisher=[[Uppsala Conflict Data Program]]|title=Peace Agreements, Sudan, Darfur Peace Agreement|url=http://www.ucdp.uu.se/gpdatabase/gpcountry.php?id=145&regionSelect=1-Northern_Africa#|access-date=4 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160322121309/http://www.ucdp.uu.se/gpdatabase/gpcountry.php?id=145&regionSelect=1-Northern_Africa|archive-date=22 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Main Rebel Group Sign">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/05/AR2006050500305.html|title=Sudan, Main Rebel Group Sign Peace Deal|first1=Glenn|last1=Kessler|first2=Emily|last2=Wax|date=5 May 2006|work=The Washington Post}}</ref>
*The 2011 Darfur Peace Agreement, also known as the "[[2011 Darfur Peace Agreement|Doha Agreement]]", was signed in July 2011 between the government of Sudan and the [[Liberation and Justice Movement]]. This agreement established a compensation fund for victims of the Darfur conflict, allowed the President of Sudan to appoint a Vice-President from Darfur, and established a new [[Darfur Regional Authority]] to oversee the region until a [[2012 Darfurian referendum|referendum]] can determine its permanent status within the Republic of Sudan.<ref>{{citation|url= http://www.sudantribune.com/IMG/pdf/DPA-_Doha_draft.pdf|title=Darfur Peace Document|date=27 April 2011|access-date=4 February 2014}}</ref>
The agreement also provided for [[power sharing]] at the national level: movements that sign the agreement will be entitled to nominate two ministers and two four ministers of state at the federal level and will be able to nominate 20 members to the national legislature. The movements will be entitled to nominate two state governors in the Darfur region.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.radiodabanga.org/node/16328|title=Signing of Doha Agreement prompts mixed reactions|publisher=[[Radio Dabanga]]|date=15 July 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102181852/https://www.radiodabanga.org/node/16328|archive-date=2 November 2013}}</ref>

===Indictment by the ICC===
{{main|International Criminal Court investigation in Darfur#Omar al-Bashir}}

[[File:Darfur report - Page 2 Image 1.jpg|thumb|right|Al-Bashir is accused of directing attacks against civilians in [[Darfur]].]]

On 14 July 2008, the Chief Prosecutor of the [[International Criminal Court]] (ICC), [[Luis Moreno Ocampo]], alleged that al-Bashir bore [[command responsibility|individual criminal responsibility]] for [[genocide]], [[crimes against humanity]], and [[war crime]]s committed since 2003 in Darfur. The prosecutor accused al-Bashir of having "masterminded and implemented" a plan to destroy the three main ethnic groups—[[Fur people|Fur]], [[Masalit people|Masalit]], and [[Zaghawa people|Zaghawa]]—with a campaign of murder, rape, and [[deportation]].<ref name="ocampo" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/14/world/africa/14iht-15sudan-cnd.14481819.html|title=Hague court accuses Sudanese president of genocide|last1=Simons|first1=Marlise|date=14 July 2008|work=The New York Times|access-date=15 December 2019|last2=Polgreen|first2=Lydia|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The arrest warrant is supported by [[NATO]], the [[Genocide Intervention Network]], and [[Amnesty International]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UolcDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA25|title=R2P and the US Intervention in Libya|last=Abomo|first=Paul Tang|date=22 May 2018|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3-319-78831-9|pages=25|language=en}}</ref>

An arrest warrant for al-Bashir was issued on {{Nowrap|4 March}} 2009 by a Pre-Trial chamber composed of judges [[Akua Kuenyehia]] of Ghana, [[Anita Usacka]] of Latvia, and [[Sylvia Steiner]] of Brazil<ref>{{YouTube|hPG0B2JxDdc|(Official Channel of the ICC)}}</ref> indicting him on five counts of crimes against humanity (murder, extermination, forcible transfer, torture and rape) and two counts of war crimes ([[War loot|pillaging]] and intentionally directing attacks against civilians).<ref name=ICC-warrant>International Criminal Court ({{Nowrap|4 March}} 2009). {{cite web |url= http://www2.icc-cpi.int/iccdocs/doc/doc639078.pdf |title= Warrant of Arrest for Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090305043711/http://www.icc-cpi.int/iccdocs/doc/doc639078.pdf |archive-date= 5 March 2009 |df= dmy-all }} {{small|(358 KB)}}. Retrieved on {{Nowrap|4 March}} 2009.</ref><ref>{{cite web|publisher=International Criminal Court|date=4 March 2009|url=http://www.icc-cpi.int/menus/icc/press%20and%20media/press%20releases/icc%20issues%20a%20warrant%20of%20arrest%20for%20omar%20al%20bashir_%20president%20of%20sudan?lan=en-GB|title=ICC issues a warrant of arrest for Omar Al Bashir, President of Sudan|access-date=4 March 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090310043331/http://www.icc-cpi.int/menus/icc/press%20and%20media/press%20releases/icc%20issues%20a%20warrant%20of%20arrest%20for%20omar%20al%20bashir_%20president%20of%20sudan?lan=en-GB|archive-date=10 March 2009}}</ref> The court ruled that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute him for genocide.<ref name=BBC1/><ref name=ICC-decision/> However, one of the three judges (Anita Usacka) wrote a [[dissenting opinion]] arguing that there were "reasonable grounds to believe that Omar Al Bashir has committed the crime of genocide".<ref name=ICC-decision>International Criminal Court ({{Nowrap|4 March}} 2009). {{cite web |url= http://www2.icc-cpi.int/iccdocs/doc/doc639096.pdf |title= Decision on the Prosecution's Application for a Warrant of Arrest against Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090306021512/http://www2.icc-cpi.int/iccdocs/doc/doc639096.pdf |archive-date= 6 March 2009 |df= dmy-all }} {{small|(7.62 MB)}}. Retrieved on {{Nowrap|4 March}} 2009</ref>

Ocampo told U.S. State Department officials on 20 March 2009 that President Bashir 'needed to be isolated.' Ocampo suggested that if Bashir's stash of money were disclosed (he put the figure at possibly $9 billion), it would change Sudanese public opinion from him being a "crusader" to that of a [[thief]].<ref>Wikileaks, 09USUNNEWYORK306</ref>

Sudan is not a state party to the [[Rome Statute]] establishing the ICC, and thus claims that it does not have to execute the warrant. However, [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1593]] (2005) referred Sudan to the ICC, which gives the Court [[jurisdiction]] over international crimes committed in Sudan and obligates the State to cooperate with the ICC,<ref name="ReferenceA">[[Amnesty International]] – Document – Sudan: Amnesty International calls for arrest of President Al Bashir. {{Nowrap|4 March}} 2009</ref> and therefore the Court, Amnesty International and others insist that Sudan must comply with the arrest warrant of the International Criminal Court.<ref name=BBC1/><ref name=BBC2>{{cite news|work=BBC News|date=27 July 2008|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7527376.stm|title=Sudan ICC charges concern Mbeki|access-date=4 March 2009}}</ref> [[Amnesty International]] stated that al-Bashir must turn himself in to face the charges, and that the Sudanese authorities must detain him and turn him over to the ICC if he refuses.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/icc-issues-arrest-warrant-sudanese-president-al-bashir-20090304|title=Everything you need to know about human rights. – Amnesty International|access-date=4 March 2016}}</ref>

Al-Bashir was the first sitting [[head of state]] ever indicted by the ICC.<ref name=BBC1/> However, the [[Arab League]]<ref>{{cite news|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7971624.stm|title=Arab leaders back 'wanted' Bashir|work=BBC News|access-date=30 March 2009}}</ref> and the [[African Union]] condemned the warrant. Al-Bashir has since visited China, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Qatar and several other countries, all of which refused to arrest him and surrender him to the ICC upon arrival. ICC member state Chad also refused to arrest al-Bashir during a state visit in July 2010.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jul/22/chad-refuses-arrest-omar-al-bashir|location=London|work=[[The Guardian]]|first=Xan|last=Rice|title=Chad refuses to arrest Omar al-Bashir on genocide charges|date=22 July 2010}}</ref> Luis Moreno Ocampo and Amnesty International claimed that al-Bashir's plane could be intercepted in International Airspace. Sudan announced that the presidential plane would always be escorted by fighter jets of the [[Sudanese Air Force]] to prevent his arrest. In March 2009, just before 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.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ethiopianreview.us/9071|author=Elias Kifle|title=Fighter jets may guard al-Bashir's flight to Qatar|work=Ethiopian Review|date=28 March 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131227010405/http://www.ethiopianreview.us/9071|archive-date=27 December 2013|author-link=Elias Kifle}}</ref>

[[File:OmarHassanBashir 03nov06 210.jpg|thumb|right|Al-Bashir in Beijing, China, 3 November 2006]]

The charges against al-Bashir have been criticised and ignored by interests in Sudan and abroad, particularly in Africa and the Muslim world. Former president of the [[African Union]] [[Muammar al-Gaddafi]] characterized the indictment as a form of terrorism. He also believed that the warrant is an attempt "by (the west) to recolonise their former colonies".<ref>{{cite news|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7970892.stm|title=Sudan leader in Qatar for summit|work=BBC News|date=29 March 2009}}</ref> Egypt said, it was "greatly disturbed" by the ICC decision and called for an emergency meeting of the UN security council to defer the arrest warrant.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/mar/04/sudan-demostrators-support-bashir|title=Uproar in Sudan over Bashir war crimes warrant|first=Xan|last=Rice|work=The Guardian|date= 4 March 2009}}</ref> The [[Arab League]] Secretary-General [[Amr Moussa]] expressed that the organization emphasizes its solidarity with Sudan. The ICC warrant was condemned for "undermining the unity and stability of Sudan".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/03/2009330175846714662.html|title=Arab leaders snub al-Bashir warrant|publisher=Al Jazeera|access-date=17 December 2014}}</ref> The [[Organisation of Islamic Cooperation]] denounced the warrant as unwarranted and totally unacceptable. It argued that the warrant demonstrated "selectivity and double standard applied in relation to issues of war crimes".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/organization-islamic-conference|title=The Organization of the Islamic Conference|publisher=Council on Foreign Relations|access-date=31 July 2021}}</ref> There have been large demonstrations by Sudanese people supporting President Bashir and opposing the ICC charges.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/05/content_10952273.htm|title=Arrest warrant against al-Bashir triggers int'l concern_English_Xinhua|access-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109173621/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/05/content_10952273.htm|archive-date=9 November 2013}}</ref> Russian presidential envoy for Sudan [[Mikhail Margelov]] argued in 2009 that the warrant "sets a dangerous precedent in international relations" and "could hamper efforts to bring peace to Sudan".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.rian.ru/world/20090304/120424636.html|title=International Criminal Court issues arrest warrant for Sudan's leader – 2|author=Sputnik|date=4 March 2009|access-date=4 March 2016}}</ref>

Al-Bashir has rejected the charges, saying "Whoever has visited Darfur, met officials and discovered their ethnicities and tribes ... will know that all of these things are lies."<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL1417202620080714|title=ICC prosecutor seeks arrest of Sudan's Bashir|first=Emma|last=Thomasson|work=Reuters|access-date=16 July 2008|date=14 July 2008}}</ref> He described the charges as "not worth the ink they are written in".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=83299|title=IRIN Africa – SUDAN: The case against Bashir – Sudan – Conflict – Human Rights – Refugees/IDPs|agency=IRIN|access-date=17 December 2014}}</ref> The warrant will be delivered to the Sudanese government, which has stated that it will not carry it out.<ref name=BBC1/><ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref name="BBC2"/>

The Sudanese government retaliated against the warrant by expelling a number of international [[aid agency|aid agencies]], including [[Oxfam]] and [[Mercy Corps]].<ref>{{cite news|publisher=[[CNN]]|date=4 March 2009|url= http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/03/04/sudan.expel|title=Sudan orders aid agency expulsions|access-date=4 March 2009}}</ref> President Bashir described the aid agencies as thieves who take "99 percent of the budget for humanitarian work themselves, giving the people of Darfur 1 percent" and as spies in the work of foreign regimes. Bashir promised that national agencies will provide aid to Darfur.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,IRIN,,SDN,456d621e2,49b8dfd514,0.html|title=Refworld – Sudan: We will fill the aid gaps, government insists|author=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees|work=Refworld|access-date=4 March 2016}}</ref>

During a visit to Egypt, al-Bashir was not arrested, leading to condemnation by [[Amnesty International]]. In October 2009, 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. On 23 October 2009, al-Bashir was invited to Nigeria by President [[Umaru Yar'Adua]] for another AU meeting, and was not arrested. In November, he was invited to Turkey for an [[OIC]] meeting.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/turkey-no-safe-haven-fugitive-international-justice-20091106|title=Turkey: No to safe haven for fugitive from international justice|publisher=[[Amnesty International]]|date=6 November 2009 |access-date=7 November 2012}}</ref> Later, he was invited to Denmark to attend conferences on climate change in [[Copenhagen]].<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/danish-government-must-arrest-sudanese-president-if-he-attends-climate-conferenc|title=Danish government must arrest Sudanese President if he attends climate conference|publisher=Amnesty International|access-date=7 November 2012}}</ref>

[[File:Omar al-Bashir, 12th AU Summit, 090131-N-0506A-347.jpg|thumb|left|Al-Bashir in [[Addis Ababa]], Ethiopia, 31 January 2009]]

Al-Bashir was one of the candidates in the [[2010 Sudanese general election|2010 Sudanese presidential election]], the first democratic election with multiple political parties participating in decades.<ref name="sudantribune.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article28034|title=SPLM Kiir to run for president in Sudan 2009 elections|access-date=4 March 2016|work=Sudan Tribune|date=26 July 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article28067|title=Eastern Sudan Beja, SPLM discuss electoral alliance|access-date=4 March 2016|work=Sudan Tribune|date=28 July 2008}}</ref> It had been suggested that by holding and winning a legitimate presidential elections in 2010, al-Bashir had hoped to evade the ICC's warrant for his arrest.<ref name=France24>{{cite news|url=http://www.france24.com/en/20100426-al-bashir-wins-sudan-presidential-election |title=Sudan's al-Bashir wins landmark presidential poll|publisher=[[France 24]]|date=26 April 2010|access-date=26 April 2010}}</ref> On 26 April, he was officially declared the winner after Sudan's election commission announced he had received 68% of the votes cast in the election.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8643602.stm| title=President Omar al-Bashir declared winner of Sudan poll|work=[[BBC News]]|date=26 April 2010|access-date=26 April 2010}}</ref> However, ''[[The New York Times]]'' noted the voting was "marred by boycotts and reports of intimidation and widespread fraud".<ref>{{cite news|first=Marlise|last=Simons|title=International Court Adds Genocide to Charges Against Sudan Leader|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/world/africa/13hague.html |date=12 July 2010|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=13 July 2010}}</ref>

Al-Bashir visited Kenya on 27 August 2010 to witness the President signing Kenya's [[Constitution of Kenya|new constitution]] into law.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Bashir%20surprise%20guest%20in%20Kenya/-/1056/998008/-/w03i5sz/-/index.html|title=Bashir surprise guest in Kenya |work=[[The Nation (Pakistan)|The Nation]]|access-date=7 November 2012}}</ref> In May 2011, al-Bashir visited Djibouti to attend the inauguration of President [[Ismail Omar Guelleh]]'s third term.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iccnow.org/?mod=newsdetail&news=4505|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120720204708/http://www.iccnow.org/?mod=newsdetail&news=4505|url-status=usurped|archive-date=20 July 2012|title=ICC Suspect Al-Bashir Travels to Djibouti|publisher=[[Coalition for the International Criminal Court]]|date=9 May 2011|access-date=7 November 2012}}</ref> In June of the same year, China's president Hu received al-Bashir as "friend and brother" in Beijing, fostering China's interests in Sudan's resources.<ref>{{cite web|author=sda/ddp/afp/dpa|url= http://www.nzz.ch/nachrichten/politik/international/china_sudan_baschir_1.11098843.html |title=Peking empfängt al-Bashir wie einen Ehrengast|work=Neue Zürcher Zeitung|date=29 June 2011|access-date=7 November 2012}}</ref> Al-Bashir was received in Libya along with a high-level delegation in January 2012 in a bid to restore friendly relations and offer support to the new Libyan government after the fall of [[Gaddafi]].<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-16454493|work=[[BBC News]]|title=Sudan's Bashir offers help to Libya during criticised visit|date=7 January 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Sudan president Bashir visits Libya|url= http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/sudan-president-bashir-visits-libya-28700320.html|newspaper=[[The Belfast Telegraph]]|date=7 January 2012}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Bashir leaves Nigeria amid calls for arrest|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2013/07/201371674249998727.html|publisher=[[Al Jazeera]]|access-date=16 July 2013}}</ref> In August 2013, Bashir's plane was blocked from entering Saudi Arabian airspace when Bashir was attempting to attend the inauguration of Iranian President [[Hassan Rouhani]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.voanews.com/content/sudan-president-blocked-from-saudi-air-space/1723267.html|title=Sudan President Blocked from Saudi Air Space|publisher=[[Voice of America]]|date=4 August 2013|access-date=30 October 2013}}</ref> whose country is the main supplier of weapons to Sudan.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21595505-under-omar-al-bashir-sudan-steepening-decline-downhill|title=Under Omar al-Bashir, Sudan is in steepening decline |date=1 February 2014|access-date=4 February 2014|place=Khartoum|work=[[The Economist]]}}</ref>

A second arrest warrant for President al-Bashir was later issued on 12 July 2010. The ICC issued an additional warrant adding 3 counts of genocide for the [[ethnic cleansing]] of the Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa tribes.<ref name=BashirWatch>{{cite web|title=BashirWatch|url=http://bashirwatch.org/|publisher=[[United to End Genocide]]|access-date=11 April 2013}}</ref> The new warrant included the Court's conclusion that there were reasonable grounds to suspect that (Omar al-Bashir) acted with specific [[genocidal intent|intent to destroy]] in part the Fur, Masalit and [[Zaghawa people|Zaghawa]] ethnic groups in the troubled Darfur region.<ref>[[RTTNews]] [http://www.rttnews.com/Content/MarketSensitiveNews.aspx?Id=1356662&SM=1] {{Nowrap|12 July}} 2010, accessed {{Nowrap|12 July}} 2010</ref> The charges against al-Bashir, in three separate counts, include "genocide by killing", "genocide by causing serious bodily or mental harm" and "genocide by deliberately inflicting on each target group conditions of life calculated to bring about the group's physical destruction".<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Morris|first=P Sean|date=February 2018|title=Economic Genocide Under International Law|journal=The Journal of Criminal Law|language=en|volume=82|issue=1|pages=29|doi=10.1177/0022018317749698|issn=0022-0183|doi-access=free}}</ref> The new warrant will act as a supplement to the first, whereby the charges initially brought against al-Bashir will all remain in place, but will now include the crime of genocide which was ruled out initially, pending appeal.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.icc-cpi.int/pages/item.aspx?name=pr557|title=Pre-Trial Chamber I issues a second warrant of arrest against Omar Al Bashir for counts of genocide|date=12 July 2010|website=International Criminal Court|language=en-GB|access-date=17 December 2019}}</ref>

On 28 August 2010 in [[Nairobi]], the authorities in Kenya chose not to arrest al-Bashir on International Criminal Court (ICC) charges of genocide when he arrived for a ceremony for the new [[Constitution of Kenya|Kenyan constitution]]. Al-Bashir was escorted into Nairobi's [[Uhuru Park]], where the signing ceremony was taking place, by Tourism minister [[Najib Balala]]. On 28 November 2011, Kenya's High Court Judge Nicholas Ombija ordered the Minister of Internal Security to arrest al-Bashir, "should he set foot in Kenya in the future".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-kenya-bashir-icc-idUSTRE7AR0YA20111128|work=[[Reuters]]|title=Kenyan court issues arrest order for Sudan's Bashir|date=28 November 2011}}</ref>

Additionally, Chad and Djibouti continued to allow Bashir to travel freely into their country despite being parties to the [[Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court]]<ref name="BashirWatch"/>

Al-Bashir said that Sudan is not a party to the ICC treaty and could not be expected to abide by its provisions just like the United States, China and Russia. He said "It is a political issue and double standards, because there are obvious crimes like Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan, but [they] did not find their way to the International Criminal Court". He added "The same decision in which [the] Darfur case [was] being transferred to the court stated that the American soldiers [in Iraq and Afghanistan] would not be questioned by the court, so it is not about justice, it is a political issue." Al Bashir accused Luis Moreno Ocampo, the ICC's chief prosecutor since 2003, of repeatedly lying in order to damage his reputation and standing. Al-Bashir said "The behaviour of the prosecutor of the court, it was clearly the behaviour of a political activist not a legal professional. He is now working on a big campaign to add more lies." He added, "The biggest lie was when he said I have $9bn in one of the British banks, and thank God, the British bank and the [British] finance minister … denied these allegations." He also said: "The clearest cases in the world such as Palestine and Iraq and Afghanistan, clear crimes to the whole humanity – all were not transferred to the court."<ref name=theguardian.com/>

In October 2013, several members of the African Union expressed anger at the ICC, calling it "racist" for failing to file charges against Western leaders or Western allies while prosecuting only African suspects so far. The African Union demanded that the ICC protect African heads of state from prosecution.<ref>{{cite news|author=Geoffrey York|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/african-union-demands-icc-to-protect-leaders-from-prosecution/article14850866/|title=African Union demands ICC exempt leaders from prosecution|work=[[The Globe and Mail]]|date=13 October 2013|access-date=30 October 2013}}</ref>

In June 2015, while in South Africa for an [[African Union]] meeting, al-Bashir was prohibited from leaving that country while a court decided whether he should be handed over to the ICC for war crimes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mg.co.za/article/2015-06-14-sa-court-to-rule-on-sudan-presidents-fate|title=SA court to rule on Sudan president's fate|date=14 June 2015|access-date=14 June 2015|website=Mail & Guardian|first=Mmanaledi|last=Mataboge}}</ref> He, nevertheless, was allowed to leave South Africa soon afterward.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://m.news24.com/news24/SouthAfrica/News/Laughter-as-court-told-al-Bashir-has-left-20150615|title=Laughter as court told Al-Bashir has left|date=15 June 2015|access-date=15 June 2015|website=News24}}</ref>

[[File:The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi meeting the President of Sudan, Mr. Omar al-Bashir, in New Delhi on October 30, 2015.jpg|thumb|Al Bashir meeting with Indian Prime Minister [[Narendra Modi]], New Delhi, India, 30 October 2015]]

In October 2015, he traveled to India to attend the [[India–Africa Forum Summit|India–Africa Summit]] and there were calls for his arrest by Amnesty International, but since India is not a signatory of the Rome Statute, the ICC does not have jurisdiction in India.<ref>{{cite journal |author= |title=India-Africa summit: Arrest Sudan President Omar al-Bashir, demands Amnesty International|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/article/world/world-news/india-africa-summit-arrest-sudan-president-omar-al-bashir-demands-amnesty-international/#sthash.3TKYElzZ.dpuf|journal=The Indian Express|location= New Delhi|date=26 October 2015 |access-date=3 November 2015}}</ref> During an interview, while in India, he stated that nothing could prevent him from going to South Africa again in December.<ref>{{cite interview |last=Al-Bashir |first=Omar |interviewer=Vickram Bahl|title=The Front Page Interview | url=http://www.itmn.tv |work=Vickram Bahl interview |publisher=ITMN Tv |location=New Delhi |date=3 November 2015 }}</ref>

===Military intervention in Yemen===

In 2015, Sudan participated in the [[Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen]] against the [[Shia]] [[Houthis]] and forces loyal to former President [[Ali Abdullah Saleh]],<ref>"[https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-27/sudan-joining-saudi-campaign-in-yemen-shows-shift-in-region-ties Sudan Joining Saudi Campaign in Yemen Shows Shift in Region Ties]". [[Bloomberg News|Bloomberg]]. 27 March 2015.</ref> who was deposed in the 2011 uprising.<ref>"[http://edition.cnn.com/2015/03/26/middleeast/yemen-saudi-arabia-airstrikes/ Saudi-led coalition strikes rebels in Yemen, inflaming tensions in region]". [[CNN]]. 27 March 2015.</ref> [[Reuters]] reported, "The war in Yemen has given Omar Hassan al-Bashir, a skilled political operator who has ruled Sudan for a quarter-century, an opportunity to show wealthy Sunni powers that he can be an asset against Iranian influence – if the price is right."<ref>"[http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-sudan-yemen-idUKKBN0NL0K720150430 Sudan maintains balancing act with Saudi, Iran]". [[Reuters]]. 30 April 2015.</ref>

===Allegations of corruption===

Al-Bashir's long career has been riddled with war. Despite his pledge to end the 21-year civil war that had been carrying on when he took office in 1989, further conflict continued after that he prolonged. During the frequent fighting, Al-Bashir allegedly looted the impoverished nation of much of its wealth. According to leaked US diplomatic cables, $9 billion of his siphoned wealth was stashed in London banks. Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the chief prosecutor, stated that some of the funds were being held in the partially nationalized Lloyds Banking Group. He also reportedly told US officials it was necessary to go public with the scale of Al-Bashir's extortion to turn public opinion against him.<ref name=bbc>{{cite web| title =Profile: Sudan's Omar al-Bashir| publisher =BBC| date =5 December 2011| url =https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-16010445}}</ref>

"Ocampo suggested if Bashir's stash of money were disclosed (he put the figure at $9bn), it would change Sudanese public opinion from him being a 'crusader' to that of a thief," one US official stated. "Ocampo reported Lloyds bank in London may be holding or knowledgeable of the whereabouts of his money," the report says. "Ocampo suggested exposing Bashir had illegal accounts would be enough to turn the Sudanese against him."<ref>{{cite web| last =Hirsch| first =Afua| title =WikiLeaks cables: Sudanese president 'stashed $9bn in UK banks| work =The Guardian| date =17 December 2010| url =https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/17/wikileaks-sudanese-president-cash-london}}</ref> A leak from [[WikiLeaks]] allegedly reveals that the Sudanese president had embezzled US$9 billion in state funds, but [[Lloyds Bank]] of England "insisted it was not aware of any link with Bashir," while a Sudanese government spokesman called the claim "ludicrous" and attacked the motives of the prosecutor.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nuneaton-news.co.uk/Home/Bank-denies-WikiLeaks-Sudan-claim-0-114639.xnf?FeedSourceID=11&FeedImageID=23758&BodyFormat=1&|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130421031200/http://www.nuneaton-news.co.uk/Home/Bank-denies-WikiLeaks-Sudan-claim-0-114639.xnf?FeedSourceID=11&FeedImageID=23758&BodyFormat=1&|url-status=dead|archive-date=21 April 2013|title=Bank denies WikiLeaks' Sudan claim|publisher=Nuneaton-news|access-date=7 November 2013}}</ref> In an interview with the Guardian, al-Bashir said, referring to ICC Prosecutor Ocampo, "The biggest lie was when he said I have $9 billion in one of the British banks, and thank God, the British bank and the [British] finance minister ... denied these allegations."<ref name=theguardian.com/> The arrest warrant has actively increased public support for al-Bashir in Sudan.<ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?mot126|title=Omer Hassan Ahmad Al-Bashir|work=[[Sudan Tribune]]|access-date=3 November 2013}}</ref>

[[File:LA CONFÉRENCE ISLAMIQUE DES MINISTRES DE LA CULTURE.jpg|thumb|The meeting of the [[Organisation of Islamic Cooperation]] (OIC) in Sudan, January 2019]]

Part of the [[BNP Paribas#Sanctions violations: $8.9 billion fine|$8.9 billion fine]] the [[BNP Paribas]] paid for sanctions violations was related to their trade with Sudan. While smaller fines have also been given to other banks,<ref>{{cite news|work=Middle East Eye|author=Mohammed Amin|url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/government-and-courtrooms-sudan-fights-recover-embezzled-billions|title=Bashir's billions and the banks that helped him: Sudan fights to recover stolen funds|date=13 October 2019}}</ref> US Justice Department officials said that they found the BNP particularly uncooperative, calling it Sudan's ''de facto'' central bank.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Reuters|author=Nate Raymond|title=BNP Paribas sentenced in $8.9 billion accord over sanctions violations|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bnp-paribas-settlement-sentencing/bnp-paribas-sentenced-in-8-9-billion-accord-over-sanctions-violations-idUSKBN0NM41K20150501|date=1 May 2015|quote=Authorities said that BNP essentially functioned as the “central bank for the government of Sudan,” concealing its tracks and failing to cooperate when first contacted by law enforcement}}</ref>

===African space agency===

In 2012, al-Bashir proposed setting up a continent wide space agency in Africa. In a statement he said; "I'm calling for the biggest project, an African space agency. Africa must have its space agency... [It] will liberate Africa from technological domination".<ref name=":0" /> This followed previous calls in 2010 by the African Union (AU) to conduct a feasibility study that would draw up a "road map for the creation of the African space agency". African astronomy received a massive boost when South Africa was awarded the majority shares of the [[Square Kilometre Array]], the world's biggest radio telescope. It will see dishes erected in nine African countries. But skeptics have questioned whether a continental body in the style of [[NASA]] or the [[European Space Agency]] would be affordable.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/sep/06/sudanese-president-african-space-agency|title=Sudanese president calls for African space agency|author=David Smith|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=17 December 2014|author-link=David Smith (journalist)}}</ref>

===Ousting from power===

{{main|2019 Sudanese coup d'état}}

On 11 April 2019, al-Bashir was removed from his post by the [[Sudanese Armed Forces]]<ref name="CNN Live">{{cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/africa/live-news/sudan-latest-updates/index.html|first=Eliza|first2=James |last1=McKintosh|last2=Griffiths|title=Sudan's Omar al-Bashir forced out in coup|date=11 April 2019|work=Cable News Network}}</ref> after many months of protests and civil uprisings.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://edition.cnn.com/africa/live-news/sudan-latest-updates/index.html/|title=CNN News|access-date=11 April 2019}}</ref> He was immediately placed under house arrest pending the formation of a transitional council.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=11 April 2019|title=Jubilation as Sudan's Omar Al-Bashir 'under house arrest now'|url=http://www.arabnews.com/node/1480936/middle-east|date=11 April 2019|website=Arab News}}</ref> At the time of his arrest al-Bashir had ruled Sudan longer than any other leader since the country gained independence in 1956, and was the longest-ruling president of the [[Arab League]]. The army also ordered the arrest of all ministers of al-Bashir's cabinet, dissolved the [[National Legislature (Sudan)|National Legislature]] and formed a [[Transitional Military Council (2019)|Transitional Military Council]], led by his own First Vice President and Defense Minister, Lieutenant General [[Ahmed Awad Ibn Auf]].<ref name="CNN Live"/>

==Post-presidency court cases==

{{Infobox criminal
| name = Omar al-Bashir
| image_name =
| image_size =
| image_caption =
| birth_name = Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1944|01|01}}
| birth_place = [[Hosh Bannaga]], [[Anglo-Egyptian Sudan]]
| death_date =
| death_place =
| cause =
| residence =
| alias =
| conviction = [[Money laundering]] [[Corruption]]
| conviction_penalty = Two years of [[imprisonment]] at a reform detention facility
| conviction_status = Incarcerated at the [[Kobar Prison]], [[Khartoum]], [[Sudan]].
| occupation =
| spouse =
| parents =
| children =
| party =
}}

===Khartoum===

On 17 April 2019, al-Bashir was moved from house arrest to Khartoum's [[Kobar Prison]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Sudan crisis: Ex-President Omar al-Bashir moved to prison |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-47961424 |access-date=13 May 2019 |agency=BBC News |date=17 April 2019}}</ref> On 13 May 2019, prosecutors charged al-Bashir with "inciting and participating in" the killing of protesters.<ref>{{cite news |title=Sudan's Omar al-Bashir charged over killing of protesters |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/05/sudan-omar-al-bashir-charged-killing-protesters-190513160017793.html |access-date=13 May 2019 |agency=Al Jazeera |date=13 May 2019}}</ref> A trial for corruption (after $130 million was found in his home)<ref name="veconomist" >{{cite news|title= Two years in a rest home for Sudan's former tyrant|url= https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2019/12/18/two-years-in-a-rest-home-for-sudans-former-tyrant|work=[[The Economist]]|date=18 December 2019}}</ref> and [[money laundering]] against al-Bashir started during the following months.<ref name="Dabanga_FCC_Bashir2ICC" /> On 14 December 2019, he was convicted for money laundering and corruption. He was sentenced to two years of imprisonment.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/13/world/africa/sudan-bashir-trial-verdict.html|title=Sudan's Ousted Leader Is Sentenced to Two Years for Corruption|last=Dahir|first=Abdi Latif|date=13 December 2019|work=The New York Times|access-date=15 December 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

On 21 July 2020, his trial regarding the coup that brought him to power started. About 20 military personnel were indicted for their roles in the coup.<ref name="auto"/>

===International Criminal Court===

On 5 November 2019, the [[Forces of Freedom and Change]] alliance (FFC), which holds indirect political power during the [[2019 Sudanese transition to democracy|39-month Sudanese transition to democracy]], stated that it had reached a consensus decision in favour of transferring al-Bashir to the ICC after the completion of his corruption and money laundering trial.<ref name="Dabanga_FCC_Bashir2ICC" /> In the following days, Sudanese transition period Prime Minister [[Abdalla Hamdok]] and [[Sovereignty Council of Sudan|Sovereignty Council]] member [[Siddiq Tawer]] stated that al-Bashir would be transferred to the [[International Criminal Court|ICC]].<ref name="SudTrib_Hamdok_Bashir2ICC" /><ref name="SudTrib_Tawer_Bashir_handover" /> On 11 February 2020, Sudan's ruling military council agreed to hand over the ousted al-Bashir to the ICC in [[The Hague]] to face charges of crimes against humanity in Darfur.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/11/sudan-says-it-will-send-former-dictator-omar-al-bashir-to-icc|title=Sudan signals it may send former dictator Omar al-Bashir to ICC|website=The Guardian|date=11 February 2020}}</ref> In October 2020, ICC Chief Prosecutor [[Fatou Bensouda]] and a delegation arrived in Sudan to discuss with the government about Bashir’s indictment. In a deal with Darfurian rebels, the government agreed to set up a special war crimes court that would include Bashir.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/world-africa-54548629|title=Omar Bashir: ICC delegation begins talks in Sudan over former leader|work=BBC News|date=17 October 2020|access-date=21 January 2021}}</ref>

===2021 coup d'état attempt by loyalists===
{{main|2021 Sudanese coup d'état attempt}}

On 21 September 2021, the government in Sudan accused loyalists of Bashir of a thwarted attempted coup d'état. Sources close to the government said that the instigators were arrested and were being interrogated.<ref>{{cite news|title=Sudan says coup thwarted, accuses Bashir loyalists|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/measures-being-taken-contain-failed-coup-attempt-sudan-official-source-2021-09-21/|access-date=21 September 2021|work=Reuters|date=21 September 2021}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Politics}}
* [[History of Sudan]]

==References==

{{Include-USGov|agency=United States Department of State|policy=https://sd.usembassy.gov/our-relationship/policy-history/us-sudan-relations/}}{{Reflist|refs=



<ref name="SudTrib_Hamdok_Bashir2ICC">{{cite news | title= Sudan's PM says al-Bashir to be handed over to the ICC |trans-title =  | date= 5 November 2019 |newspaper= [[Sudan Tribune]] | url= https://sudantribune.com/spip.php?article68454 |access-date=6 November 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191106211346/https://sudantribune.com/spip.php?article68454 |archive-date= 6 November 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name="Dabanga_FCC_Bashir2ICC">{{cite news | title= Sudan's Forces for Freedom and Change: 'Hand Al Bashir to ICC' |trans-title =  | date= 5 November 2019 |newspaper= [[Radio Dabanga]] | url= https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/sudan-s-forces-for-freedom-and-change-hand-al-bashir-to-icc |access-date=6 November 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191106211949/https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/sudan-s-forces-for-freedom-and-change-hand-al-bashir-to-icc |archive-date= 6 November 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name="SudTrib_Tawer_Bashir_handover">{{cite news | title= Former militia warns against al-Bashir handover to ICC |trans-title =  | date= 8 November 2019 |newspaper= [[Sudan Tribune]] | url= https://sudantribune.com/spip.php?article68476 |access-date=9 November 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191109201601/https://sudantribune.com/spip.php?article68476 |archive-date= 9 November 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

}}

==External links==

{{sisterlinks|d=Q57265|c=Category:Omar al-Bashir|q=Omar al-Bashir|n=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|m=no|mw=no|wikt=no|s=no|species=no}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090307195202/http://www.trial-ch.org/en/trial-watch/profil/db/facts/omar-hassan-ahmad_al-bashir_779.html Omar Hassan Ahmad Al-Bashir] at Trial Watch.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090213072259/http://www.haguejusticeportal.net/eCache/DEF/9/502.c2V0TGFuZz1FTiZMPUVO.html Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir] at The Hague Justice Portal.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20101110221829/http://sudaninside.net/2007/11/18/omar-el-bashir-order-re-opening-of-popular-defence-training-camps "Sudanese President Threaten Wars"], ''Sudan Inside'', {{nowrap|18 November}} 2007.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080213210041/http://www.heritage.org/Research/MiddleEast/EM245.cfm "A Cautious Welcome for Sudan's New Government"] by Michael Johns, Heritage Foundation Executive Memorandum No. 245, {{nowrap|28 July}} 1989.
*[https://archive.today/20121209014520/http://en.qantara.de/webcom/show_article.php/_c-476/_nr-1121/i.html Arrest Warrant for Sudan's President Bashir: Arabs Are Leaving Themselves out of the International Justice System]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20091223062352/http://www.iss.europa.eu/nc/actualites/actualite/article/playing-it-firm-fair-and-smart-the-eu-and-the-iccs-indictment-of-bashir/ Playing it firm, fair and smart: the EU and the ICC's indictment of Bashir], opinion by Reed Brody, [[European Union Institute for Security Studies]], March 2009.
*{{C-SPAN|omaralbashir}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bashir, Omar}}
[[Category:1944 births]]
[[Category:Arabs in Sudan]]
[[Category:Egyptian Military Academy alumni]]
[[Category:Field marshals]]
[[Category:Fugitives wanted by the International Criminal Court]]
[[Category:Fugitives wanted on crimes against humanity charges]]
[[Category:Fugitives wanted on war crimes charges]]
[[Category:Genocide perpetrators]]
[[Category:Heads of government who were later imprisoned]]
[[Category:Ja'alin tribe]]
[[Category:Leaders who took power by coup]]
[[Category:Leaders ousted by a coup]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:National Congress Party (Sudan) politicians]]
[[Category:People from River Nile (state)]]
[[Category:People indicted for genocide]]
[[Category:People of the Sudanese Revolution]]
[[Category:People of the War in Darfur]]
[[Category:Politicians convicted of corruption]]
[[Category:Presidents of Sudan]]
[[Category:Sudanese anti-communists]]
[[Category:Anti-Americanism]]
[[Category:Fugitives wanted on genocide charges]]

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Omar al-Bashir