Advertisement

Sudan's Omar al-Bashir: Key dates

Thursday August 12 2021

Deposed dictator is to be handed over to the International Criminal Court over war crimes in Darfur.

IN SUMMARY

  • A soldier from a young age, Bashir fought alongside the Egyptian army in the Arab-Israeli Yom Kippur war in 1973.
  • As brigade commander, he seized power in 1989 in an Islamist-backed coup against the democratically elected government.
Advertisement

Key dates in the life of Sudan's deposed dictator Omar al-Bashir, who is to be handed over to the International Criminal Court (ICC) over war crimes in Darfur.

January 1, 1944: Born to a farming family in the village of Hosh Bannaga, north of Khartoum.

1973: A soldier from a young age, Bashir fights alongside the Egyptian army in the Arab-Israeli Yom Kippur war.

June 30, 1989: As brigade commander, seizes power in an Islamist-backed coup against the democratically elected government. 

2003: Sends troops and militia to crush a rebellion in the western region of Darfur. The conflict claims more than 300,000 lives, according to the United Nations.

2009: The ICC issues a warrant for his arrest for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. The following year it issues a warrant over alleged genocide. He denies the charges.

2010: Elected president in the first multiparty vote since he took power, boycotted by the opposition. Re-elected in 2015.

2011: South Sudan wins independence from Khartoum, which loses three-quarters of its oil reserves.

2013: Deadly demonstrations against Bashir's government erupt after a petrol price hike.

April 11, 2019: After four months of protests demanding that he quit, Bashir is ousted by the military and detained.

December 14, 2019: Convicted of graft and ordered to serve two years in a correctional centre. Sudan also begins a probe into him for crimes in Darfur.

July 21, 2020: Goes on trial for his role in the 1989 coup that brought him to power.

August 11, 2021: Sudan says it will hand Bashir over to the ICC to face trial over Darfur.

Advertisement
More From The East African
This page might use cookies if your analytics vendor requires them.