Abdel Rahim Mohammed Hussein ( ar, عبد الرحيم محمد حسين; born 1949) is a Sudanese politician and the former Governor of Khartoum State. Hussein served as the longstanding Minister of National Defense of The Republic of

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

. Hussein also served for a period as the Minister of Interior Affairs. During his term as Minister of Interior Affairs, he opened the Rabat University. Hussein was arrested in early April 2019 following a coup on 11 April which overthrew al-Bashir.Sudan's Omar al-Bashir forced out in coup
CNN, Eliza Mackintosh and James Griffiths, 11 April 2019

Early life

Hussein was born in 1949 Karam, part of Northern State, In 1964 he began his secondary education in Elburgig (البرقيق ). It was here that he became an Islamist.

Military career

He joined the Sudanese Air Force in the 1973, .Hussein graduated from the prestigious

Cranfield University , mottoeng = After clouds light , established = 1946 - College of Aeronautics 1969 - Cranfield Institute of Technology (gained university status by royal charter) 1993 - Cranfield University (adopted current name) , type = Public research uni ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

with a master's degree in

aeronautical Aeronautics is the science or art involved with the study, design, and manufacturing of air flight–capable machines, and the techniques of operating aircraft and rockets within the atmosphere. The British Royal Aeronautical Society identifies ...

engineering in 1982. He played a major role in the

1989 Sudanese coup d'état The 1989 Sudanese coup d'état was a military coup that occurred in Sudan on 30 June 1989 against the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and President Ahmed al-Mirghani. The coup was led by military officer Omar ...

, and afterwards in 1990 became Secretary-General of the

Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation The Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation (RCCNS-Sudan) was the governing body of Sudan following the June 1989 coup. It grew out of the collaboration between the Sudanese military and the National Islamic Front. It was the autho ...

; the ruling authority of Sudan between 1989 and 1993.

Politics

Interior Minister

Following the dissolution of the

he was appointed Minister of Interior Affairs by President Bashir, a position through which he dominated Sudan's internal security services. Despite being a strong Islamist, Hussein remained a loyal Bashir supporter following Bashir's rift with Hassan al-Turabi; the leader of the

National Islamic Front The National Islamic Front ( ar, الجبهة الإسلامية القومية; transliterated: ''al-Jabhah al-Islamiyah al-Qawmiyah'') was an Islamist political organization founded in 1976 and led by Dr. Hassan al-Turabi that influenced th ...

, and quite possibly the most influential Sudanese Islamist, who had supported Bashir in his 1989 coup attempt. Hussein has recognised the major role Turabi played in the formation of the ideology that led the 1989 coup attempt, and spoke in 2002 about how although disliked the rift with Turabi due to the intellectual and political debt they owed him, Turabi's imprisonment was in fact necessary to protect the state that Turabi had advocated for. In 2004 President Bashir appointed Hussein as his special representative for Darfur. He held this position until 2005.

Minister of Defence

He became the Minister of National Defense in 2005, he held the position till 2015. In his time Sudanese army became the third in Africa after South Africa and Egypt. During his time, a remarkable development took place in the Sudanese army in terms of individual, equipment, and work environment. He is considered one of the strongest defense ministers who passed through the Ministry of Defense in Sudan.

War crimes allegations

On 2 December 2011, the

Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court is the officer of the International Criminal Court whose duties include the investigation and Prosecutor, prosecution of the crimes under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, name ...

of the investigating the situation in Darfur,

Luis Moreno Ocampo Luis Moreno OcampoMoreno Ocampo's surnames are often hyphenated in English-language media to mark Moreno as a surname, not a given name. (born 4 June 1952) is an Argentine lawyer who served as the first Prosecutor of the International Criminal Co ...

, requested a Pre-Trial Chamber of the Court to issue an arrest warrant against Abdel Rahim Mohammed Hussein for war crimes and crimes against humanity. On March 1, 2012, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Hussein, charging with 20 counts of crimes against humanity and 21 counts of war crimes.

2019 arrest

On 11 April 2019, al-Bashir was overthrown in a coup and Hussein was soon afterwards arrested. On 27 May 2020, Sudan’s public prosecution service announced that Hussein had tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and was subsequently placed in quarantine.

References

External links

Black voter network on SudanBashirWatch
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hussein, Abdel Rahim Mohammed Living people Defense ministers of Sudan Interior ministers of Sudan Sudanese lieutenant generals Fugitives wanted by the International Criminal Court 1949 births People from Northern (state) Alumni of Cranfield University