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 uncle, returned to the streets Sunday after a month-long closure ordered by state security agents during fuel-price protests.
"Thanks be to God. We are back," read the headline on a column written by Al-Intibaha boss Al-Tayeb Mustafa.
The paper had been closed since late September after the government slashed fuel subsidies, pushing up prices at the pump by more than 60 percent.
The decision sparked the worst urban unrest of Bashir's 24-year rule with dozens killed and hundreds incarcerated
Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up!
Journalists complained that censorship intensified during the demonstrations.
The Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based watchdog, said Sudan was using "censorship and intimidation" in an effort to make news hounds stick to the official line about the protests.
Al-Intibaha had been a regular critic of the decision to cut government fuel subsidies.
"I will continue to raise the main issues, as I did before," newspaper chief Mustafa wrote in his Sunday column.
The pan-Arab satellite channel Sky News Arabia, also ordered shut during the demonstrations, was allowed to resume work last Thursday.
But Al-Arabiya, a second pan-Arab station closed at the same time, has still not been allowed to restart operations in Khartoum.
In an 28 October speech to parliament, Bashir hinted that press censorship would ease now that the situation "has returned to normal".
Sudan ranks near the bottom, at 170 out of 179, in the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) 2013 World Press Freedom Index.