Omar Al-Bashir and Africa's Longest War
Page 1
Some of Paul Moorcraft’s other books on military topics
A Short Thousand Years: The End of Rhodesia’s Rebellion (1979)
Contact 2: The Struggle for Peace (1981)
Africa s Superpower (1982)
African Nemesis: War and Revolution in Southern Africa, 1945-2010 (1994)
Axis of Evil: The War on Terror (with Gwyn Winfield and John Chisholm) (2005)
The New Wars of the West (with Gwyn Winfield and John Chisholm) (2006)
Inside the Danger Zones: Travels to Arresting Places (2010)
Shooting the Messenger: The Politics of War Reporting (with Phil Taylor) (2011)
The Rhodesian War: A Military History (with Peter McLaughlin) (2011)
Mugabe’s War Machine (2011)
Total Destruction of the Tamil Tigers (2012)
First published in Great Britain in 2015 by
PEN & SWORD MILITARY
an imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
47 Church Street
Barnsley
South Yorkshire
S70 2AS
Copyright © Professor Paul L. Moorcraft, 2015
ISBN: 978 1 47382 823 0 HB
ISBN: 978 1 47384 252 6 TPB
EPUB ISBN: 978 1 47385 496 3
PRC ISBN: 978 1 47385 502 1
The right of Professor Paul L. Moorcraft to be identified as the
author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance
with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
A CIP catalogue record for this book is
available from the British Library
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including
photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval
system, without permission from the Publisher in writing.
Typeset in Times New Roman by Chic Graphics
Printed and bound in England
by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY
Pen & Sword Books Ltd incorporates the imprints of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd incorporates the imprints of Pen & Sword
Archaeology, Atlas, Aviation, Battleground, Discovery,
Family History, History, Maritime, Military, Naval, Politics,
Railways, Select, Social History, Transport, True Crime,
Claymore Press, Frontline Books, Leo Cooper, Praetorian Press,
Remember When, Seaforth Publishing and Wharncliffe.
For a complete list of Pen & Sword titles please contact
PEN & SWORD BOOKS LIMITED
47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2AS, England
E-mail: enquiries@pen-and-sword.co.uk
Website: www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
Contents
About the Author
Abbreviations
Glossary of Terms
Modern Sudanese Timeline
Maps
List of Illustrations
Introduction
1 The Historical Background
2 British Rule
3 Failed Democracy – Failed Coups (1956–1989)
4 The Making of a President
5 The Duopoly
6 The General Takes the Reins
7 The Road to Peace in the South
8 The War in the West: Darfur
9 ICC and Sudan
10 The Fall of the Republic
11 Aftermath
Conclusion – Omar Al-Bashir’s Legacy
Appendix – A Short Guide to the Internal Forces Fighting in Sudan’s Civil Wars
Endnotes
Select Bibliography
About the Author
Professor Paul Moorcraft, an internationally respected expert on crisis communications, especially relating to military and security issues, has worked for Time magazine, the BBC and most of the Western TV networks as a freelance producer/war correspondent as well as lecturing full-time (consecutively) at ten major universities in journalism, politics and international relations. He has worked in thirty war zones in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Balkans, often with irregular forces. Most recently he has been operating in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine/Israel, Nepal, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Syria, Turkey and Sri Lanka.
Dr Moorcraft is a former senior instructor at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, and the UK Joint Services Command and Staff College. He also worked in Corporate Communications in the Ministry of Defence in Whitehall. The Ministry of Defence recalled him for six months during the Iraq War in 2003.
The author of a wide range of books on military history, politics and crime, Dr Moorcraft is a regular broadcaster (BBC TV and radio, as well as Sky, A1 Jazeera, etc.) and op-ed writer for major international newspapers (the Guardian, New Statesman, Washington Times, Canberra Times, Business Day, Western Mail etc.). One of his recent books is Axis of Evil: The War on Terror (Pen and Sword, 2005). An updated version, The New Wars of the West, was published by Casemate in the US in 2006. His Shooting the Messenger: The Politics of War Reporting (Potomac, Washington, 2008) was co-authored with Professor Phil Taylor. An updated version was released in 2011 (Biteback, London). The Rhodesian War: A Military History (with Dr Peter McLaughlin) was first published by Pen and Sword books in 2008. Mugabe’s War Machine (Pen and Sword) came out in 2011. The Total Destruction of the Tamil Tigers: A Rare Victory of Sri Lanka s Long War was released in various editions by Pen and Sword in 2013-14. Three volumes of memoirs have been published, the most recent being Inside the Danger Zones: Travels to Arresting Places (Biteback, London, 2010). Dr Moorcraft is an award-winning novelist as well as an author of educational publications related to his charity work (It Just Doesn’t Add Up: Explaining Dyscalculia and Overcoming Number Problems for Children and Adults, Filament, Croydon, 2014).
Professor Moorcraft has visited Sudan, including all the war zones, especially Darfur, on more than twenty (often extended) occasions since 1996. He has interviewed many of the key players on all sides of the various conflicts while producing a series of documentaries for UK and US TV networks. He was head of mission, for fifty international observers, during the 2010 election. Professor Moorcraft was also given unrivalled access to President al-Bashir. His latest visit to Sudan, and interviews with al-Bashir, was in January 2014.
Paul Moorcraft is the director of the Centre for Foreign Policy Analysis, London, and visiting professor at Cardiff University’s School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies, Europe’s leading journalism centre.
Abbreviations
AMIS
African Union Mission in Sudan
AU
African Union
CAR
Central African Republic
CIA
Central Intelligence Agency
CNPC
China National Petroleum Corporation
COIN
counter-insurgency
CPA
Comprehensive Peace Agreement
CSI
Christian Solidarity International
DPA
Darfur Peace Agreement
DUP
Democratic Unionist Party
EPLF
Eritrean People’s Liberation Front
EPRDF
Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front
EU
European Union
FCO
Foreign and Commonwealth Office (British)
GNU
Government of National Unity
GoSS
Government of South Sudan
ICC
International Criminal Co
urt
IDP
internally displaced person
IGAD
Intergovernmental Authority on Development
IMF
International Monetary Fund
ISI
Inter-Services Intelligence (Pakistan)
JEM
Justice and Equality Movement
LRA
Lord’s Resistance Army
MSF
Médecins Sans Frontières
NATO
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
NBC
Nuclear, Biological and Chemical
NCO
non-commissioned officer
NCP
National Congress Party
NDA
National Democratic Alliance
NGO
non-governmental organization
NIF
National Islamic Front
NRF
National Redemption Front (Darfur)
NISS
National Intelligence and Security Service (Sudan)
OAU
Organization of African Unity
OLS
Operation Lifeline Sudan
PAIC
Popular Arab and Islamic Congress
PCP
Popular Congress Party
PDF
Popular Defence Force
RCC
Revolutionary Command Council
SAF
Sudanese Armed Forces
SANU
Sudan African National Union
SDF
Sudanese Defence Force
SLA
Sudan Liberation Army
SPAF
Sudan People’s Armed Forces
SPLM/A
Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army
SPLM-N
Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North
SPS
Sudan Political Service
SSDF
South Sudan Defence Force
SSLA
South Sudan Liberation Army
UNAMID
UN-African Union Mission in Darfur
UNMEE
UN Mission in Eritrea and Ethiopia
UNMIS
UN Mission in Sudan
UNMISS
UN Mission in South Sudan
USAID
United States Agency for International Development
Glossary of Terms
abeed
slaves
amir
military commander/tribal leader
Ansar
followers of the Mahdi
awlad al-bahr
the people of the river, riverine Arabs
bayaa
Islamic oath of allegiance
dar
tribal homeland
effendi
originally used to describe Turkish officials, later to describe officials in general
Falasha
Ethiopian Jews
ghazi
tribal warrior
Haj
Pilgrimage to Mecca
haram
forbidden under Islamic law
hudud
Islamic punishment, usually amputation
jabal
hill, mountain
Janjaweed
devil horsemen, pro-government militias in Darfur
Jihadiyya
slave troops under Egyptian rule
Khalifa
steward, Caliph
Khatmiyya
the largest Sufi order in Sudan
marissa
beer
mundukuru
slavers
mujahedeen
holy warriors
mukhabarat
secret police/intelligence service
murahaliin
Baqqara militia
nas
ordinary Sudanese people
Pasdaran
Iranian Revolutionary Guards
sharia
Islamic law
shura
consultative body/practice of consultation
sirdar
commander in chief
Turkiya
Turkish/Egyptian rule
Umma
Islamic community
wadi
seasonal watercourse
Modern Sudanese Timeline
1820
Egypt invades Sudan – Turkish/Egyptian rule.
1881
Mahdist uprising.
1885
Fall of Khartoum; death of Gordon; the Mahdi dies.
1898
Battle of Omdurman; Anglo-Egyptian re-conquest; Fashoda incident.
1899
Anglo-Egyptian Condominium – British rule.
1916
British conquest of Darfur.
1925
Formation of the Sudan Defence Force.
1952
Egyptian army coup.
1954-5
Withdrawal of British forces from Sudan and Egypt.
1955
Mutiny of southern forces in Torit – start of ‘First Southern War of Independence’ (1955-1972).
1956
Sudanese independence – failure of Anglo-French invasion of Suez.
1958
First military coup led by General Abboud.
1962
Anya-Nya sparks up civil war in the south.
1964
October Revolution – temporary civilian rule.
1966
Sadiq al-Mahdi becomes prime minister.
1969
Ja’afar Numeiri leads the ‘May Revolution’ – return of military rule.
1970
Joseph Lagu takes over leadership of Anya-Nya.
1971
Communist coup against Numeiri suppressed.
1972
North-south peace agreement at Addis Ababa.
1978
Oil confirmed in Bentiu in southern Sudan.
1983
Numeiri imposes sharia law. Second round of southern war; formation of SPLM/A.
1984
Beginning of severe drought and famine.
1985
Numeiri deposed in military coup.
1986
Civilian government under Sadiq al-Mahdi.
1987
Al-Mahdi government starts arming tribal militias.
1988
Famine in south Sudan.
1989
National Salvation Revolution led by Omar al-Bashir and Hassan al-Turabi.
1991
Osama bin Laden moves to Khartoum.
1993
Al-Bashir becomes president; US adds Sudan to list of states sponsoring terrorism.
1995
Sudan implicated in assassination attempt on Egyptian President Mubarak.
1996
Bin Laden thrown out of Sudan.
1998
US cruise missile strike on Sudan.
1999
Al-Bashir dissolves national assembly, ejects al-Turabi as speaker; oil exported for first time.
2001
Al-Turabi arrested for signing a memorandum with SPLM; US extends unilateral sanctions.
2002
First ceasefire deal with SPLA regarding Nuba Mountains; signing of Machakos Protocol.
2003
Beginning of Darfur war.
2004
US Secretary of State Colin Powell describes Darfur killings as genocide.
2005
Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed; John Garang killed in helicopter crash.
2007
International Criminal Court issues first warrants for Sudanese.
2008
Sudan and Chad sign peace accord; armoured column from Darfur raids Omdurman; north-south fighting in disputed Abyei; ICC calls for arrest of al-Bashir for war crimes.
2010
Al-Bashir wins north and Salva Kiir wins south in internationally supervis
ed elections.
2011
Referendum in south – massive majority for independence; South Sudan gains independence.
2012
South Sudan halts oil production in dispute with Khartoum; border fighting; cost-of-living protests in Khartoum; alleged Israeli air strike on Khartoum; military-intelligence coup suppressed in Khartoum.
2013
Waves of protests in north Sudan about cuts in fuel subsidies; civil war breaks out in South Sudan
2014
Al-Bashir shakes up his party to bring in new faces; offers ‘dialogue’ to opposition parties.
Political map of Sudan – surrounded by nine often hostile neighbours.
Detailed map of Sudan.
Detailed map of Darfur.
The political terrain of oil. (Designer: Roz Wilson)
List of Illustrations
1. Sudan’s pyramids at Meroë are much smaller than their Egyptian counterparts.