Sudanese Defence Minister Lieutenant General Jamal al-Din Omar died of an unspecified illness Wednesday while in neighbouring South Sudan for peace talks with his country’s main rebel groups, the military announced.
Omar had “suffered from a number of chronic illnesses,” armed forces spokesman Amer Mohamed al-Hassan said without elaborating.
The government delegation in the South Sudanese capital Juba said Omar died at 2:30 am local time “after a sudden heart attack during the performance of his sacred duty”.
Born in 1960, Omar was named defence minister after the armed forces toppled veteran president Omar Bashir in a palace coup last April following months of nationwide protests.
Before becoming minister, he headed the security and defence committee of the interim government.
Before Bashir’s overthrow, he served as head of military intelligence from 2017 to 2019.
Since October, Sudan’s transitional government has been locked in talks with rebel groups that fought Bashir’s regime in the vast western region of Darfur and in the southern border states of Blue Nile and South Kordofan.
Omar said Monday that he was confident the two sides would sign a deal to form a “national army”, state media reported.
The government has sought to turn the page on Bashir’s three decades of iron-fisted rule by bringing an end to the multiple ethnic conflicts that have dogged Sudan almost continuously since independence in 1956.
The conflict in Darfur alone saw 300,000 people killed and 2.5 million driven from their homes as Bashir’s government unleashed Arab tribal militias in a scorched earth campaign against ethnic minority groups.
Newer articles:
- South Sudan: Logistics Cluster - Concept of Operations, March 2020 - 25/03/2020 13:28
- Protection and Human Rights Considerations - Preparedness and Response to COVID-19 for South Sudan - 25/03/2020 12:51
- South Sudan's Kiir hails Egypt's efforts to support his country's stability - 25/03/2020 12:07
- Illegal entry by South Sudan nationals into Uganda worries authorities in Amuru - 25/03/2020 10:17
- South Sudan imposes nighttime curfew over coronavirus - 25/03/2020 08:32
Older news items
- Coronavirus cases in South Africa top 700 as country prepares for lockdown - 25/03/2020 04:38
- South Africa's virus cases jump; Mali, Guinea-Bissau get 1st - 25/03/2020 03:51
- South Sudan, Sudan Close Borders, Airports - 25/03/2020 00:10
- COVID-19 Threatens South Sudan’s At-Risk Populations - 24/03/2020 06:16
- South Sudan nationals intercepted in Gulu over Coronavirus - 24/03/2020 05:55
Latest news items (all categories):
- UNICEF - Programme Associate, GS-6, Fixed Term, Juba South Sudan #44495 (for South Sudanese only) - 16/09/2024 13:34
- Has South Sudan ‘legitimized’ a new era of government by extension and not election? - 16/09/2024 13:24
- High Stakes for the South Sudan Talks in Kenya - 16/09/2024 13:02
- South Sudan Pound Narrows Gap With Street Rate After Central Bank Interventions - 16/09/2024 13:00
- Thousands of Sudanese refugees in South Sudan face hunger and disease - 16/09/2024 12:52
Random articles (all categories):
- UN Urges South Sudanese to Implement Peace Deal - 02/12/2015 17:01
- SKBN Coordination Unit - Humanitarian Update (July 2020) [EN/AR] - 15/08/2020 20:30
- South Sudan rebels say they have freed seven aid workers - 15/04/2018 11:38
- UPDATED: Clashes rock Sudan truce as top UN official arrives - 03/05/2023 05:05
- Security Sector Stabilization: A Prerequisite for Political Stability in South Sudan - 11/05/2018 15:13
Popular articles:
- Who is the darkest person in the world, according to Guinness World Record? - 25/10/2022 02:34 - Read 47875 times
- No oil in troubled waters - 25/03/2014 15:02 - Read 22090 times
- School exam results in South Sudan show decline - 01/04/2012 17:58 - Read 21163 times
- NDSU student from South Sudan receives scholarship - In-Forum - 29/09/2012 01:44 - Read 18458 times
- Top 10 weakest currency exchange rates in Africa in 2023 - 19/07/2023 00:24 - Read 16084 times