The Islamist Dictator: Omar al-Bashir Quiz

Answer: Sudan

Omar led a coup of military officers and removed the Coalition Government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi, which was greatly unstable, in a military coup. He became the Prime Minister on June 30th, 1989 and abolished the position on October 16th, 1993.

The new government suspended political parties and established a national legal code based on Islam. After that, he became the chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation, which was a body that was newly established at the time and had legislative and executive powers over the period of transition.

After the Prime Minister position was destroyed, Omar became the President of Sudan on the same date.

Answer: January 1st, 1944 and in Hosh Bannaga

Hosh Bannaga was then part of the Kingdom of Egypt and Sudan, now it is part of Sudan. Hosh Bannaga is located in the River Nile state of Sudan. Omar got his primary education there.

Answer: Khartoum

Khartoum is the capital of Sudan and the capital of Khartoum state. Omdurman is located in Khartoum state and is Sudan's largest city. Kassala is the capital of Kassala state and is an important trade center. Wad Madani is the capital of Al Jazirah, and is located on the west bank of the Blue Nile.

Answer: Egypt, Syria, and Iraq

In 1960, Omar joined the Sudanese Army. He studied at the Egyptian Military Academy in Cairo, and graduated from the Sudan Military Academy in Cairo in 1966. He speedily jumped up the ranks and became a paratrooper. In the October War (Yom Kippur War) of 1973, he served with the Egyptian Army.

Answer: Sudanese Dinar

The First Sudanese Pound was the currency getting replaced, because it lost about 90% of its value during the chaotic 1980's. The Sudanese Dinar became the currency on June 8, 1992 and was replaced by the new Second Sudanese Pound on January 10, 2007.

The West African Pound was used by the old British colony of British West Africa, and was equal to the Pound Sterling. The Sudanese Dollar doesn't exist.

Answer: National Congress

The National Congress follows Islamism, Nationalism, Populism, and Conservatism. Islamism is the basically the idea that Muslims need to unite politically, because Islam is a religion and political system. Nationalism is an ideology that focuses on the primary importance of the nation. Populism is defined as: "political ideas and activities that are intended to represent ordinary people's needs and wishes". Source: Cambridge Dictionary. Conservatism is a philosophy that doesn't recommend changing traditional practices in a nation that have already been established. Human rights groups and some governments have criticized the party for supposedly trying to create an Islamic Dictatorship.

Answer: True

Opposition parties like the Liberal Democrats of Sudan and the Alliance of the Peoples' Working Forces, were legally formed and were allowed to run for election. They failed to get enough support to win, and Omar al-Bashir won the election in 2000 with 86.5% of the vote.

Answer: Hassan al-Turabi

The real tensions began when al-Turabi introduced a bill to reduce the president's powers, then al-Bashir dissolved the parliament and declared a state of emergency. Then al-Turabi was suspended as the National Congress Party's chairman when he urged a boycott of Omar's re-election campaign. Hassan was born circa 1932. Hassan al-Turabi supported coup of 1989, and was elected to a seat in the National Assembly in 1996, and became the speaker.

The National Assembly is the lower house of Sudan's legislature. Hassan al-Turabi has invited many islamic fundamentalists groups into the country, including al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, the Abu Nidal Organization, and Hezbollah. From 1999 to October 2003, Hassan was imprisoned.

He was again imprisoned from March 2004 to June 28th, 2005.

He was imprisoned because of accusations of conspiracy. All of the incorrect answers were former heads of state in Sudan.

Answer: Genocide

Surprising, because I believe he is guilty of genocide. It all started on July 14th, 2008, when the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, accused al-Bashir of bearing individual criminal responsibility for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed since 2003 in Darfur. Luis also said that al-Bashir "masterminded and implemented" a plan to wipe out the three main ethnic groups, the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa, with a campaign of deportation, murder, and rape. NATO, the Genocide Intervention Network, and Amnesty International all supported the arrest warrant.

Answer: 9,000

Some more about the arrest warrant. Omar was the first sitting head of state ever indicted by the ICC. Muammar al-Gadaffi said the indictment was a form of terrorism. Egypt said, it was "greatly disturbed" by the ICC's verdict and asked for an emergency meeting of the UN security council to discontinue the arrest warrant. Supporting the President and hating the arrest warrant has been a subject of many demonstrations by the Sudanese people. Al-Bashir has said, rejecting the charges, "Whoever has visited Darfur, met officials and discovered their ethnicities and tribes, will know that all of these things are lies." The warrant was delivered to the Sudanese government, which didn't carry it out. During a visit to Egypt, al-Bashir was not arrested. On October 23, 2009, al-Bashir was not arrested while visiting Nigeria.
Now to Darfur. During February, 2003 the Sudan Liberation Army and Justice and Equality Movement took up arms in Darfur and accused the government of oppressing black Africans while favoring Arabs. The other side was composed mainly of the Sudanese military and the Janjaweed, a Sudanese militia group. The Sudanese government is accused of financially assisting the militia, and of participating in attacks against civilians, although it public denies it.
The UN estimated 300,000 people died and 2,000,000 million people were displaced. The Sudanese government estimated 9,000 people died and 450,000 were displaced.