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.
’s regime and release protesters, in a bid to placate demonstrators demanding civilian rule.
"I announce the restructuring of state institutions according to the law and pledge to fight corruption and uproot the regime and its symbols," General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said, a day after he was sworn in to head Sudan’s new ruling military council.
He also ordered the release of all prisoners locked away
Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'!
by special emergency courts and the immediate lifting of a night-time curfew imposed by the council earlier this week.
Career soldier Burhan took the helm of Sudan’s transitional military council on Friday when his predecessor General Awad Ibn Ouf ‐ a close aide of ousted veteran president Bashir ‐ quit after little more than 24 hours in power.
Burhan also pledged on Saturday that individuals involved in the killing of protesters would face justice.
His initial announcements indicated he wanted to show the tens of thousands of protesters on the streets that he is not part of the regime’s old guard and was genuinely committed to reform.
The new leader also on Saturday accepted the resignation of the head of the feared National Intelligence and Security Service, Salah Abdallah Mohammed Salih ‐ widely known as Salih Ghosh ‐ the military council announced.
Salih Ghosh had overseen a sweeping crackdown led by NISS agents against protesters taking part in four months of mass demonstrations that led to the toppling of Bashir in a palace coup by the army on Thursday.
Dozens of protesters were killed and thousands of activists, opposition leaders and journalists tossed in the slammer
Book 'im, Mahmoud!
The police said that 16 people had been killed in live fire in Khartoum alone over the previous two days as NISS agents led a desperate last stand for Bashir before the army intervened.