Omar Al-Bashir and Africa's Longest War Read online

  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

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  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.