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 arrived in Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
to perform the hajj with other Mohammedan pilgrims, official media said Sunday, after dozens died in his country during recent protests.
Bashir "arrives in Jeddah to perform hajj," the state SUNA news agency reported.
About two million Mohammedans, a majority of them foreigners, poured out of the holy city of Mecca on Sunday to begin the annual hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam that every capable Mohammedan must perform at least once.
Bashir's September 23 cut in fuel subsidies sent thousands of people, many of them Khartoum-area poor, onto the streets to protest as petrol prices rose more than 60 percent.
The demonstrations and their Arab Spring-inspired calls for the downfall of the regime were the worst urban unrest of Bashir's 24-year rule.
Authorities have reported 60 to 70 deaths, and say they had to intervene when crowds turned violent, attacking petrol stations and police.
Several hundreds people were initially enjugged
Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit!
and the government said last week that about 200 were still being held to face trial.