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Ministry of Defence (Sudan)

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The Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Sudan is the government ministry responsible for defence and the Sudanese Armed Forces.

History

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After independence, Prime Minister Abdallah Khalil, secretary of the National Umma Party, served as Minister of Defence.[1]

The President of Sudan was responsible for appointing the Minister of Defence.

After the overthrow of General Ibrahim Abboud's regime in October 1964, Lieutenant General El Khawad Mohmamed was appointed as a member of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces and commander-in-chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces.[2]

Then-Colonel Jaafar Nimeiri came to power in the 1969 Sudanese coup d'état. Khalid Hassan Abbas was appointed as Minister of Defense on 29 October 1969[3] following a cabinet reshuffle implemented to strengthen the army's control over the Sudanese government. Abbas was an anti-Mahdist and non-communist. As Defense Minister he, alongside Babiker, would push President Nimeiri to adopt a more aggressive response to the rising threat to the government posed by the Ansar movement, resulting in the brutal crackdown seen on Aba Island in 1970.[4] Abbas served as Defense Minister until 16 April 1972,[5] at which point Nimeiri took over the role.

U.S. personnel met Defence Minister General Abdul Majid Hamid Khalil (known in the Sudan as Abdul Majid) in 1979.[citation needed] Two days after the signing of the peace agreement between Ahmed al-Mirghani and John Garang on 16 November 1988, a Sudanese Air Force Lockheed C-130 Hercules carrying Abdul Majid from Wau to Khartoum, together with the Army Commander-in-Chief, General Fathi Ahmed Ali, was hit by a missile, knocking out one of its engines.[6] In January 1982, President Nimeiri again assumed the office himself after retiring Abdul Majid, who had been simultaneously First Vice President, Minister of Defence, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and secretary-general of the single ruling Sudanese Socialist Union party.[7]

Nimeiri had served himself as Minister of Defence for long stretches in 1972-73 (promoted himself General in 1973), 1975–76, and 1978-79 after retiring other ministers. From 1976-78, the Minister of Defence has usually held the rank of General, when Bashir Mohamed Ali held the position.[8]

Since the accession of the Sovereignty Council of Sudan, the effective commander-in-chief of the armed forces is Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, former head of the Transitional Military Council.

Ministers of Defence

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Ministers of Defence have included:[9]

No. Name Term Party/Notes
1 Ismail Al-Azhari 17 November 1955 – 2 February 1956 Civilian
2 Abdallah Khalil 3 February 1956 – 17 November 1958 Civilian
3 Brigadier Ibrahim Abboud 18 November 1958 – 21 October 1964 Abboud Govt; Later promoted
4 Sirr Al-Khatim Al-Khalifa to 7 June 1965 Prime Minister of the first and second transitional government (1964–1965)
5 Mohamed Ahmed Mahgoub 8 June 1965 – 5 May 1966
6 Amin Al-Tom Sati 5 May 1966 – 27 July 1966
7 Abdullah Abdul Rahman 28 July 1966 – 14 December 1966
8 Ahmed Abdel Rahman 15 December 1966 – 15 July 1967 al-Mahdi Govt
9 Adam Musa Madbou 16 July 1967 – 26 May 1968
10 Mohamed Ahmed Al-Mahjoub 27 May 1968 to 25 May 1969
11 Colonel Jaafar Nimeiri 25 May 1969 – 19 June 1969
12 Brigadier Omar Hajj Moussa 20 June 1969 – 28 October 1969
13 Major General Khalid Hassan Abbas 29 October 1969 – 16 April 1972
14 Major General Jaafar Nimeiri 17 April 1972 – 7 October 1973
15 Lieutenant General Awad Khallafalla 8 October 1972 – 25 October 1975 Air Force officer, "pilot corner team". As part of the U.S. diplomatic cables leak, it was disclosed that the United States Embassy Khartoum had dispatched a message saying that as of November 7, 1974, General Awad Khallafalla had been dismissed as Minister of Defence and Commander-in-Chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces, retired, and been appointed as an advisor on military and aviation affairs in the office of the presidency.[citation needed]
16 Jaafar Nimeiri 26 October 1975 – 9 August 1976
17 General Bashir Mohamed Ali 10 August 1976 – 1 February 1979
18 General Jaafar Nimeiri 2 February 1979 – 28 April 1979
19 General Abdul Majid Hamid Khalil 29 May 1979 – 25 January 1982 Formerly commander of the Port Sudan Area. Had been simultaneously First Vice President, Minister of Defence, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and secretary-general of the single ruling Sudanese Socialist Union party before he was retired by Nimeiri.[7]
20 Field Marshal Jaafar Nimeiri 26 January 1982 – 3 March 1985
21 Lieutenant General Abdel Rahman Swar al-Dahab 3 March 1985 – 6 April 1985[10]
22 Field Marshal Abdel Rahman Swar al-Dahab 6 April 1985 – 23 April 1985 As Chair of the Transitional Military Council
23 Major General A.H. / Othman Abdullah Muhammad 22 April 1985 – 3 May 1986 Both de Waal 2015 and Salmon 2007 named the Minister of Defence in July 1985 as Major General Burma Fadlallah Nasir.[11]
24 Sadiq al-Mahdi 4 May 1986 – 14 May 1988 Civilian
25 Abdul Majid Hamed Khalil 15 May 1988 – 25 April 1989
26 Major General Othman Mubarak Rahma 26 April 1989 – 30 June 1989[12]
27 Brigadier (later Staff Lieutenant General) Omar Hassan Ahmed Al-Bashir 1 July 1989 – 19 October 1993 Previously Airborne Forces; Commander, 8th Infantry Brigade, as a Brigadier, 1987 – 30 June 1989.[13]
28 Staff General Hassan Abdel-Rahman 10 October 1993 – 8 March 1998
29 Staff Lieutenant General Ibrahim Suleiman Hassan 3 March 1998 – c. June 1999 Africa Confidential reported his dismissal as Armed Forces Chief of Staff on 24 October 1997. [1] Defence minister the next year; later a member of parliament [2].
30 Staff Lieutenant General Abdul Rahman Sirr al Khatim 7 July 1999 – 7 July 2000 Appointment reported March 8, 1999: "Bashir appointed chief spokesman of the army, Lt. Gen Abdul Rahman Sir al-Khatim, as the new minister," SUNA reported.[14] Sudanese newspapers quoted al-Khatim as saying five Sudanese army soldiers were killed and nine wounded in a clash on April 11, 1999 with rebels near Kassala (AFP 15 /Apr/99)[15] Later Ambassador to Ethiopia (?) [3]
31 Major General Bakri Hassan Saleh 11 July 2000 – 21 September 2004 Also reported by WP as "11 July 2000-21 September 2005."
32 Major General Ahmed Khaled 21 September 2004 – 21 September 2005
33 Lieutenant General Abdel Rahim Mohammed Hussein 22 September 2005 – 3 February 2006 Air Force, engineer branch
34 General Abdel Rahim Mohammed Hussein 3 February 2006 – 6 June 2015 Promoted to full general[16]
35 Mustafa Osman Obeid Salim 6 June 2015 – August 2015 Obeid also served temporarily as Minister of National Defence after taking over from Abdel Rahim Mohammed Hussein from 6 June until August 2015, when he was replaced with Ahmed Awad Ibn Auf.[17][18][19]
36 Ahmed Awad Ibn Auf 23 August 2015[20] – 14 April 2019[21]
37 Unknown April – September 2019
38 General Jamal al-Din Omar September 2019 – c. 25 March 2020 Died of a heart attack while taking part in negotiations in Juba, South Sudan[22]
39 Major General Yassin Ibrahim Yassin Abdel-HadiAbdel-Hadi 2 June 2020 – present Retired general[23][24]

References

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  1. ^ https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:275754/FULLTEXT01.pdf, p.17
  2. ^ Reuters, The New Africans, Paul Hamlyn, London, 1967, 414.
  3. ^ "عن الوزارة". mod.gov.sd. Archived from the original on 12 August 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  4. ^ Collins, Robert O. (2008). A History of Modern Sudan. Cambridge University Press. p. 98. ISBN 9780521858205.
  5. ^ International Who's Who 1972-73
  6. ^ Mansour Khalid, "War and Peace in the Sudan," Routledge 2012, 184, 186.
  7. ^ a b Nelson, Harold D., ed. (1982). Sudan, a country study. Vol. 550, no. 27. Library of Congress Country Studies. Headquarters, Department of the Army. pp. 260, 266.
  8. ^ Country Study 1982, 266.
  9. ^ "Example of Section Blog layout (FAQ section)". Archived from the original on 17 April 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  10. ^ Note that Biel, Melha Rout (2008). Elite im Sudan: Bedeutung, Einfluss und Verantwortung (in German). Peter Lang. ISBN 978-3-631-5711-56. appears to give a less correct appointment date as Minister of Defence in 1984.
  11. ^ de Waal, "Real Politics of the Horn of Africa," 76; Salmon, "Popular Defence Forces," 2007, 12.
  12. ^ Note that Othman is listed as a retired General, independent from any party, as part of the Fifth Council of Ministers in Lesch, Ann Mosely (1998). The Sudan: Contested National Identities. James Currey Publishers. p. 225. ISBN 9780852558232.
  13. ^ Coup announcement and assumption of role as Minister of Defence by Brigadier al-Bashir cited in Cowell, Alan (1 July 1989). "Military Coup in Sudan Ousts Civilian Regime". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 July 2008.
  14. ^ "SCIO Sudan Monthly Report Mar 1999 - Sudan". ReliefWeb. 15 March 1999. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
  15. ^ "Sudan Update Vol 10 No 8". Sudan Update. 5 May 1999. ISSN 1352-0393.
  16. ^ "Sudan changes ministers of defence, foreign affairs, oil". Ynetnews. 6 June 2015.
  17. ^ "Sudan's ruling party accuses SPLM-N of succumbing to foreign powers". 25 January 2016.
  18. ^ "Sudan changes ministers of defence, foreign affairs, oil". Ynetnews. Reuters. 6 June 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
  19. ^ "من هو وزير الدفاع السوداني الجديد : الفريق أول ركن مهندس / مصطفى عثمان عبيد سالم - سودافاكس". 9 June 2015.
  20. ^ "Sudan appoints new defence minister". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  21. ^ "Sudan military vows to reform intelligence service amid protests". Aljazeera. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
  22. ^ "Sudan defence minister dies of heart attack in South Sudan". Al Jazeera. 25 March 2020.
  23. ^ "Sudan's ruling council appoints new defense minister".
  24. ^ "Sudan appoints new defense minister". 2 June 2020.
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