Abboud, Ibrahim

He graduated from a military college in Khartoum . Since 1918 in military service in the Egyptian army. In 1925 he transferred to the Armed Forces of Sudan, immediately after their separation from the Egyptian. During the Second World War, as part of the British troops, participated in military operations in Libya , and as part of the Sudanese army in Eritrea and Ethiopia . In 1956, with the rank of major general, he was appointed commander in chief of the Sudanese army. Since 1957 - lieutenant general.

On November 17, 1958, a bloodless coup d'etat took place in Khartoum, which overthrew the civilian government of Abdullah Khalil. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces was declared the supreme authority, which included 12 senior army officers (including Major Generals Ahmed Abd al-Wahhab and Mohammed Talaat Farid, Brigadier Generals Ahmed Abdullah Hamid, Ahmed Rida Farid, Hassan Beshir Nasr, Ahmed Madub al-Bahari, Mohi ad-Din Abdullah, Muhammad Ahmed Irva, al-Makbul al-Amin al-Haj, Abd al-Rahim Shennan). Lieutenant General Ibrahim Abboud, who later proclaimed himself the marshal and president of the country, became the head of the All-Russian Air Force. All local authority was transferred to the commander of the military districts. ^[one]

To solve the many problems of Sudan, Abboud created a tough political regime; the constitution was suspended, political parties dissolved. Sudanese cotton prices have been reduced. This was helped by the implementation of the 1958 state surplus harvest on the market and the 1959 unprecedented harvest. The financial crisis in the country was significantly weakened. An agreement was reached with Egypt regarding the division of the Nile waters, and although Sudan did not receive significant economic benefits from this division, the main thing was that Egypt recognized the independence of Sudan and the numerous border conflicts that had ceased before. Finally, in 1961, the 10-year economic plan began, designed to end Sudan’s one-sided dependence on cotton exports and reduce its dependence on industrial imports.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, declared by the highest authority in the country, transferred to Abboud the posts of President of Sudan, Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Commander-in-Chief, and awarded him the rank of Marshal.

Abboud was personally popular in the country, or at least respected. In 1961, he was invited to the United States, where President D. Kennedy praised Sudan for setting a good example of ending conflicts with neighbors ^[2] .

But in the non-Arab, non-Muslim south of Sudan, the Abbud government was not as popular as in the north. And Abbud’s attempts to begin an energetic program of Arabization and Islamization of the south came up against open resistance in educational institutions, and then an open uprising in rural areas of South Sudan. This caused the introduction of troops to the south of the country and widespread hostilities, which, in turn, led to a wide flow of refugees to neighboring countries. By 1963, a civil war was already going on in the country, with the army controlling the cities, but the rural areas of the south were entirely under the control of the partisans. Abbud’s attempt to open a “public debate” on the issue of the South has led to an increasing wave of criticism of the government throughout the country. Under these conditions, Abboud did not follow the path of armed suppression of the opposition, but preferred to dissolve the government on October 26, 1964, and on November 15 resigned himself, transferring power to a temporary civilian cabinet.

Abboud lived in the UK for several years, but died in Khartoum on September 8, 1983.