Born on January 1, 1944, Omar al-Bashir is the current president of Sudan. al-Bashir's rise to power began in the late 1980's after leading a military coup against the previous government. He's had plenty of military experience; having served in both the Sudanese Army and the Egyptian Army. After leading a successful military coup and appointing himself president in 1993, al-Bashir began a campaign in which he:
Weakened and Disbanded all rival political parties
Created a new currency for the country of Sudan
Won a Presidential Election in which he was the only candidate allowed to run.
Al-Bashir has reigned over Sudan during a period of civil war that has killed over a million people and has left many Sudanese displaced.
Currently, the dictator is wanted by the International Criminal Court for a number of crimes including crimes against humanity, genocide, and various war crimes.
Africa has seen most of its leaders remaining in power for the longest times, and it seems as if the trend will continue well into the future. Although in recent years, we've seen certain African dictators successfully be removed from power, there are still quite a number of them that are able to circumvent the "rules" and continue to rule their respective nations. Only time will tell us of al-Bashir and Sudan's future.
