Head of the National Congress Party. He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and eventually appointed himself president-for-life. He has fallen out with his Islamic mentor, Hasan al-Turabi, tried to impose shariah on the Christian and animist south, resulting in its secessesion, and attempted to
ArabizeDarfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it.
Thursday on his first official regional tour since the Islamists' 2007 power seizure in the Paleostinian enclave.
Haniya, who arrived in Khartoum on Tuesday, was joined in the meeting by other high-ranking Hamas leaders -- the first time they had met as a group with Bashir, whose country has close ties with Hamas.
The Paleostinian group has long maintained a base in Sudan, where its exiled chief Khaled Meshaal is a frequent visitor.
Meshaal joined the hour-long talks with Bashir, as did key Hamas figures Mahmoud Zahar, a former foreign minister, and Moussa Abu Marzouk.
"From the Arabs and Islamic countries we want finance and political support to confirm that Jerusalem is the capital of the Paleostinian state," Haniya told news hounds after the meeting.
He also came to Khartoum for the Al-Quds Forum, an annual gathering which focuses on Jerusalem, the eastern sector of which was occupied by Israel during the 1967 Middle East war and annexed shortly afterwards.
Around 200,000 Paleostinians live in east Jerusalem, which they want as the capital of their future state.
Meshaal told news hounds that his delegation briefed Bashir on reconciliation efforts with the Paleostine Liberation Organization (PLO).
Since 2007, the Paleostinian territories have been politically divided into two separate territories, with the Fatah of Paleostinian President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas
... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial...
largely ruling the West Bank and Hamas governing Gazoo.
In May, following years of bitter rivalry, the two factions signed a reconciliation deal.
Last week, Abbas met Meshaal in Cairo and the two agreed on a process that would pave the way for Hamas to join a reformed PLO, now dominated by Fatah, and for long-delayed Paleostinian elections.
Haniya left Gazoo on Sunday and visited Cairo before flying to Sudan.
Sources in his office said the main purpose of the trip was to seek "help and aid" for the reconstruction of Gazoo, which was devastated by a massive 22-day Israeli offensive which began three years ago.
His tour was also to include Qatar, Turkey, Tunisia and Bahrain.
Haniya entered Egypt through the Rafah crossing, which has remained largely closed since June 2006 when Israel imposed a blockade on Gazoo after Death Eaters snatched soldier Gilad Shalit, who was freed two months ago under a prisoner swap deal.
The blockade was tightened a year later when the Hamas seized control of the territory, ousting forces loyal to the Western-backed Paleostinian Authority.
Cairo officially reopened Rafah crossing with Gazoo in May, more than three months after Egypt's former president Hosni Mubarak
...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011...
stepped down.