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.
has accepted an invitation to visit South Sudan, his press secretary said on Tuesday, in the latest sign of easing tensions after border festivities.
South Sudan's President Salva Kiir telephoned Bashir with the invitation but no date for a summit has been set, said the presidential press secretary, Emad Sayed Ahmed.
"Yes, Salva Kiir asked President Bashir to visit Juba and he accepted the request," Ahmed told Agence La Belle France Presse.
The meeting would be Bashir's first trip to Juba since he attended South Sudan's declaration of independence on July 9, 2011, following a near-unanimous referendum vote for separation after a 22-year civil war.