Minister of Defence (Sudan)

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

After independence, Prime Minister Abdallah Khalil, secretary of the 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.[6][7] 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.[8] 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.[9]

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.[10]

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 have included:[11]

No.NameTermParty/Notes
1Ismail Al-Azhari17 November 1955 - 2 February 1956Civilian
2Abdallah Khalil3 February 1956 to 17 November 1958Civilian
3Brigadier Ibrahim Abboud18 November 1958 - 21 October 1964Abboud Govt; Later promoted
4Secret seal of the Caliphto 7 June 1965Sirr Al-Khatim Al-Khalifa?; Prime Minister of the first and second transitional government of October (1964-1965)
5Mohamed Ahmed Mahgoub8 June 1965 - 5 May 1966
6Amin Al-Tom Sati5 May 1966 - 27 July 1966
7Abdullah Abdul Rahman abdalramn nogd Allah28/7/1966 to 12/14/1966
8Ahmed Abdel Rahman abdalrhman al-Mahdi15 December 1966 - 15 July 1967al-Mahdi Govt
9Adam Musa Madbou musa madibo16/5/1967 - 26 May 1968
10Mohamed Ahmed Al-Mahjoub27/5/1968 to 5/25/1969
11Colonel Jaafar NimeiriFor the period 25/5/1969 - 19 June 1969
12Brigadier Omar Hajj Moussafor the period 20/6/1969 - 10/28/1969
13Major General Khalid Hassan Abbasfor the period 10/29/1969 - 16/4/1972
14Major General Jaafar Nimeirifor the period 17/4/1972 - 7/10/1973
15Lieutenant General Awad Khallafallafor the period 8/10/1972 - 25/10/1975Air 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.[12]
16Jaafar Nimeiri10/26/1975 - 9/8/1976
17General Bashir Mohamed Ali10/8/1976 - 1 February 1979
18General Jaafar Nimeiri2 February 1979 - 28 April 1979
19General Abdul Majid Hamid Khalil5/29/1979 - 25/1/1983Formerly Commander 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.[13]
20Field Marshal Jaafar NimeiriJanuary 26, 1982 - March 3, 1985
21Lieutenant General Abdel Rahman Swar al-DahabMarch 3, 1985 - 6/4/1985.[14]
22Field Marshal Abdel Rahman Swar al-DahabApril 6, 1985 - April 22, 1985As Chair of the Transitional Military Council
23Major General A.H. / Othman Abdullah MuhammadApril 22, 1985 - May 3, 1986
24Sadiq al-MahdiMay 4, 1986 - 14/5/1988Civilian.
25Abdul Majid Hamed Khalil15/5/1988 to 25/4/1989
26Major General Othman Mubarak Rahma4/26/1989-30/6/1989[15]
27Brigadier, later Staff Lieutenant General Omar Hassan Ahmed Al-Bashir1 July 1989 - 19 October 1993Previously Airborne Forces; Commander, 8th Infantry Brigade, as a Brigadier, 1987 - 30 June 1989.[16]
28Staff General Hassan Abdel-Rahman Ali hasaanOctober 10, 1993 to March 8, 1998
29Staff Lieutenant General Ibrahim Suleiman HassanMarch 3, 1998 - circa June 1999Africa Confidential reported his dismissal as Armed Forces Chief of Staff on 24 October 1997. Defence minister the next year; later a member of parliament . Hassan served for thiry-six years in the SAF. "A native of Darfur, Hassan returned to serve as Governor of North Darfur from 2001 to 2003. Although nationally well-respected, Hassan fell from the upper echelon of the National Congress Party after opposing military intervention in Darfur. [among other issues] Hassan ordered the arrest of Janjaweed leader Musa Hilal in 2002. [I]n poor health [at the time the cable was written], Hassan is inactive within the NCP, and returned to Khartoum in November 2007 after ..months of surgery and recuperation in Cairo."[17]
30Staff Lieutenant General Abdul Rahman Sirr al KhatimJuly 7, 1999 - July 7, 2000Appointment reported March 8, 1999: "Bashir appointed chief spokesman of the army, Lt. Gen Abdul Rahman Sir al-Khatim, as the new minister," SUNA reported.[18] 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)[19] Later Ambassador to Ethiopia (?)
31Major General Bakri Hassan SalehJuly 11, 2000 to 21/9/2004Also reported by WP as "11 July 2000-21 September 2005."
32Major General Ahmed Khaled21/9/2004 to 21/9/2004
33Lieutenant General Abdel Rahim Mohammed HusseinSeptember 22, 2005 to 2/3/2006Air Force, Engineer Branch.
34General Abdel Rahim Mohammed Hussein2/3/2006 - June 6, 2015Promoted to full general.[20]
35Mustafa Osman Obeid SalimJune 6, 2015 - August 2015Obeid 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.[21][22][23]
36Ahmed Awad Ibn Auf23 August 2015[24] - 14 April 2019[25]
37UnknownApril - September 2019
38General Jamal al-Din OmarSeptember 2019 - c. March 25, 2020Died of a heart attack while taking part in negotiations in Juba, South Sudan.[26]
39Maj. Gen. Yassin Ibrahim Yassin Abdel-HadiJune 2, 2020 - onwardsRetired general.

References
  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 2018-08-12. Retrieved 2020-01-18.
  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. 04136
  7. Previously reported in U.S. State Department cables as a Major General and Deputy Chief of Staff, SAF, in 1978. https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/1978KHARTO02087_d.html.
  8. Mansour Khalid, "War and Peace in the Sudan," Routledge 2012, 184, 186.
  9. 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.
  10. Country Study 1982, 266.
  11. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-04-17. Retrieved 2014-04-17.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. U.S. Embassy Khartoum, Changes in Sudanese Army, November 8, 1974, KHARTO02509.
  13. 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.
  14. Note that Biel, Melha Rout (2008). Elite im Sudan: Bedeutung, Einfluss und Verantwortung (in German). Peter Lang. ISBN 9783631571156. appears to give a less correct appointment date as Minister of Defence in 1984.
  15. 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.
  16. 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.
  17. U.S. Embassy Khartoum, "Former Darfur Governor On Peace Process," April 7, 2008, cable 08KHARTOUM537, https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/08KHARTOUM537_a.html, via United States diplomatic cables leak.
  18. https://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/scio-sudan-monthly-report-mar-1999
  19. "Sudan Update Vol 10 No 8". Sudan Update. 5 May 1999. ISSN 1352-0393.
  20. "Sudan changes ministers of defence, foreign affairs, oil". Ynetnews. June 6, 2015.
  21. http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article56160
  22. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4665526,00.html
  23. http://www.sudafax.com/16662
  24. "Sudan appoints new defence minister". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  25. "Sudan military vows to reform intelligence service amid protests". Aljazeera. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
  26. "Sudan defence minister dies of heart attack in South Sudan". Al Jazeera. 25 March 2020.
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