Abdel Rahim Mohammed Hussein
| Abdel Rahim Mohammed Hussein | |
|---|---|
| عبد الرحيم محمد حسين | |
| Minister of National Defense | |
| Assumed office 2005 |
|
| President | Omar al-Bashir |
| Preceded by | Bakri Hassan Saleh |
| Minister of Interior Affairs | |
| In office 1993–2005 |
|
| President | Omar al-Bashir |
| Succeeded by | Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamad |
| Secretary-General of the Revolutionary Command Council | |
| In office 30 June 1989 – October 1993 |
|
| President | Omar al-Bashir |
| Preceded by | Post created |
| Succeeded by | Post abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1950's Dongola, Northern State, Sudan |
| Political party | National Congress |
| Religion | Sunni Islam |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | |
| Service/branch | |
| Years of service | 1960's - 1989 |
| Rank | Lt. Gen. |
Abdel Rahim Mohammed Hussein is the current Minister of Defence of The Republic of Sudan. He was also the former Minister of Interior Affairs until he resigned and then reinstated at his current post. During his term as Minister of Interior Affairs, he opened the Rabat University. In later years, he was accused of supporting the janjaweed and committing war crimes, allegations he and the government both strongly deny.
Contents
Early life[edit]
Hussein was born in Dongola, part of Northern State,[1] although other sources have placed his birth in or around Dankla in Karma city in Khartoum North.[2] In 1964 he began his secondary education in Khartoum. It was here that he became an Islamist and also where he met and became close friends with Omar al-Bashir.[1]
Military career[edit]
He joined the Sudanese Air Force in the 1960s, and became a leading member of the Muslim Brotherhoods military cell from the 1970s onwards. Hussein graduated from the prestigious Cranfield University in the United Kingdom with a master's degree in aeronautical engineering in 1982.[3] He played a major role in the 1989 Sudanese coup d'état, and afterwards became Secretary-General of the Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation; the ruling authority of Sudan between 1989 and 1993.[1]
Politics[edit]
Interior Minister[edit]
Following the dissolution of the Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation he was appointed Minister of Interior Affairs by President Bashir, a position through which he dominated Sudan's internal security services. Whilst Interior Minister he was alleged to have worked directly with al-Qaeda during Osama bin Ladens time in Sudan from 1992 to 1996, and was alleged to have even provided al-Qaeda with sophisticated communications equipment.[1]
Despite being a strong Islamist, Hussein remained a loyal Bashir supporter following Bashir's rift with Hassan al-Turabi; the leader of the National Islamic Front, and quite possibly the most influential Sudanese Islamist, who had supported Bashir in his 1989 coup attempt.[1]
Hussein has recognised the major role Turabi played in the formation of the ideology that led the 1989 coup attempt, and spoke in 2002 about how although disliked the rift with Turabi due to the intellectual and political debt they owed him, Turabi's imprisonment was in fact necessary to protect the state that Turabi had advocated for.[1]
In 2003 President Bashir appointed Hussein as his special representative for Darfur. He held this position until 2004.[1]
He lost his job as Interior Minister in 2005 after the National Assembly demanded his resignation following a scandal caused by the collapse of a police hospital he owned.[1]
Minister of Defence[edit]
He became the Minister of National Defense in 2005, although has faced problems in this position, such as in May 2008 when he faced calls for his resignation due to security failures resulting in the 2008 attack on Omdurman and Khartoum.[1]
He has also faced problems as Defence Minister from senior army officers demanding greater independence for the Sudanese Armed Forces from the National Congress Party. He has also been unsympathetic to rapprochement with the West, and even consoled the family of one of the killers of the US Diplomat John Granville following the death of the young militant in Somalia.[1]
War Crimes Allegations[edit]
On 2 December 2011, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno Ocampo, requested a Pre-Trial Chamber of the Court to issue an arrest warrant against Abdel Rahim Mohammed Hussein for war crimes and crimes against humanity.[4]
On March 1, 2012, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Hussein, charging with 20 counts of crimes against humanity and 21 counts of war crimes. As one of Bashir's closest allies, Hussein is accused of recruiting, arming and funding police forces and the Janjaweed militia in Darfur and also reported to be leading a campaign against rebels in the south.[5]
External links[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Abdel-Rahim Mohamed Hussein". Sudan Tribune. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
- ^ ICC-02/05-01/12 - The Prosecutor v. Abdel Raheem Muhammad Hussein
- ^ P. Pigott, (2009)Canada in Sudan: War Without Borders
- ^ ICC Prosecutor Presents New Case in Darfur. ICC press release. 2 December 2011. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
- ^ "Bashir Watch". United to End Genocide. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
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