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Ahmad Tejan Kabbah

Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah (16 February 1932 – 13 March 2014) was a Sierra Leonean politician who served twice as the 3rd President of Sierra Leone, from 1996 to 1997 and again from 1998 to 2007. An economist and attorney by profession, Kabbah spent many years working for the United Nations Development Programme. He retired from the United Nations and returned to Sierra Leone in 1992.

In early 1996, Kabbah was elected leader of the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) and was the party's presidential candidate in the country's first free presidential election later that year. He was elected with 59% of the vote, defeating his closest rival, John Karefa-Smart of the United National People's Party (UNPP), who had 40% in the runoff vote and conceded defeat. International observers declared the election free and fair. Kabbah campaigned on a promise to end the civil war if elected president. During his inauguration speech as president, Kabbah repeated the promise to end the civil war, which he indeed achieved later in his presidency.

A deeply devoted Muslim, Kabbah was born in Pendembu, Kailahun District in Eastern Sierra Leone, though he was raised in the capital Freetown. Kabbah was an ethnic Mandingo. Kabbah was Sierra Leone's first and currently the only Muslim head of state of the country.

Kabbah's first marriage, in 1965, was to Patricia Tucker, a devout Christian from the Sherbro ethnic group and a native of Bonthe District in Southern Sierra Leone. He and Patricia Kabbah had five children. The two were often seen together in public before his presidency. She was very influential during his presidency, focusing mainly on humanitarian issues, and was outspoken on the need to end the civil war. She died from an illness in 1998 and thus did not live to see the war's end in 2002.

A year after he left office as president, and ten years after the death of his wife Patricia, Kabbah married Isata Jabbie Kabbah, an ethnic Mandingo and a Muslim in an Islamic wedding ceremony in Freetown. They remained married until he died in 2014.

Most of Kabbah's time in office was influenced by the civil war with the Revolutionary United Front, led by Foday Sankoh, which led to him being temporarily ousted by the military Armed Forces Revolutionary Council from May 1997 to March 1998. He was soon returned to power after military intervention by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), led by Nigeria. Another phase of the civil war led to the United Nations and British involvement in the country in 2000.

As President, Kabbah opened direct negotiations with the RUF rebels to end the civil war. He signed several peace accords with the rebel leader Foday Sankoh, including the 1999 Lomé Peace Accord, in which the rebels, for the first time, agreed to a temporary ceasefire with the Sierra Leone government. When the cease-fire agreement with the rebels collapsed, Kabbah campaigned for international assistance from the British, the United Nations Security Council, the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States to help defeat the rebels and restore peace and order in Sierra Leone.

Kabbah declared the civil war officially over in early 2002. Tens of thousands of Sierra Leoneans across the country took to the streets to celebrate the end of the war. Kabbah went on to easily win his final five-year term in office in the presidential election later that year, defeating his main opponent Ernest Bai Koroma of the main opposition All People's Congress (APC) with 70.1% of the vote–the largest margin of victory for a free election in the country's history. International observers declared the election free and fair.

Youth and education
Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah was born on February 16, 1932, in the rural town of Pendembu, Kailahun District in the Eastern Province of British Sierra Leone. Kabbah's father, Abu Bakr Sidique Kabbah, who worked as a businessman and a deeply religious Muslim man, was an ethnic Mandingo of Guinean descent from Kambia District in northern Sierra Leone. Kabbah's mother, Haja Adama Coomber Kabbah, was also a deeply religious Muslim and a member of the Mende ethnic group from the Coomber family, a Chieftaincy ruling house based in the rural town of Mobai, Kailahun District in eastern Sierra Leone. A devoted Muslim himself, Kabbah's first name Ahmad means "highly praised" or "one who constantly thanks God" in Arabic language. Kabbah was a fluent speaker of several languages including English, French, Susu, Mende, Krio and his native Mandinka language. Though born in the Kailahun District, Kabbah grew up in the capital, Freetown.

Though a devoted Muslim, Kabbah received his secondary education at the St. Edward's Secondary School, the oldest Catholic secondary school in Freetown. He also married a Catholic, the late Patricia Kabbah, who was an ethnic Sherbro from Bonthe District in Southern Sierra Leone. Together the couple had five children.

Kabbah received his higher education at the Cardiff College of Food Technology and Commerce and University College Aberystwyth, Wales, in the United Kingdom, gaining a Bachelor's degree in Economics in 1959. He later studied law, and in 1969 he became a practicing Barrister-at-Law and a member of the Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, London.

Career
Kabbah spent nearly his entire career in the public sector. He served in the Western Area and in all the Provinces of Sierra Leone. He was a District Commissioner in Bombali and Kambia (Northern Province), in Kono (Eastern Province) and in Moyamba and Bo (Southern Province). He later became Permanent Secretary in various Ministries, including Trade and Industry, Social Welfare, and Education.

United Nations
Kabbah was an international civil servant for almost two decades. After serving as deputy Chief of the West Africa Division of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in New York City, he was reassigned in 1973 to head the Programme's operation in the Kingdom of Lesotho, as Resident Representative. He also headed UNDP operations in Tanzania and Uganda, and just before Zimbabwe's independence, he was temporarily assigned to that country to help lay the groundwork for cooperation with the United Nations system.

After a successful tour of duty in Eastern and Southern Africa, Kabbah returned to New York to head UNDP's Eastern and Southern Africa Division. Among other things, he was directly responsible for coordinating UN system assistance to liberation movements recognized by the Organization of African Unity (OAU), such as the African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa, and the South West African People's Organization (SWAPO) of Namibia.

Before his retirement in 1992, Kabbah held a number of senior administrative positions at UNDP Headquarters in New York, including those of deputy director and Director of Personnel, and Director, Division of Administration and Management.

Political career in Sierra Leone
After the military coup in 1992, he was asked to chair the National Advisory Council, one of the mechanisms set up by the military to facilitate the restoration of constitutional rule, including the drafting of a new constitution for Sierra Leone. He reputedly intended his return to Sierra Leone to be a retirement, but was encouraged by those around him and the political situation that arose to become more actively involved in the politics of Sierra Leone.

First term as president
Kabbah was seen as a compromise candidate when he was put forward by the Mende-dominated Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) as their presidential hopeful in the 1996 Presidential and Parliamentary elections, the first multi-party elections in twenty-three years. The SLPP won the legislative vote overwhelmingly in the South and Eastern Province of the country, they split the vote with the UNPP in the Western Area and they lost in the Northern Province.

On March 29, 1996, Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah was sworn in as Sierra Leone's first freely elected president. Guided by his philosophy of "political inclusion", he appointed the most broad-based government in the nation's history, drawing from all political parties represented in Parliament, and ‘technocrats’ in civil society. One minority party did not accept his offer of a cabinet post.

The President's first major objective was to end the rebel war which, in four years had already claimed hundreds of innocent lives, driven thousands of others into refugee status, and ruined the nation's economy. In November 1996, in Abidjan in Côte d'Ivoire, he signed a peace agreement with the rebel leader, former Corporal Foday Sankoh of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF).

The rebels reneged on the Agreement, resumed hostilities, and later perpetrated on the people of Sierra Leone what has been described as one of the most brutal internal conflicts in the world.

Coup and exile
In 1996, a coup attempt involving Johnny Paul Koroma and other junior officers of the Sierra Leone Army was unsuccessful, but served as notice that Kabbah's control over military and government officials in Freetown was weakening.

In May 1997, a military coup forced Kabbah into exile in neighbouring Guinea. The coup was led by the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council, and Koroma was freed and installed as the head of state. In his Guinea exile, Kabbah began to marshal international support. Just nine months after the coup, Kabbah's government was revived as the military-rebel junta was removed by troops of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) under the command of the Nigerian led ECOMOG (ECOWAS Ceasefire Monitoring Group) and loyal civil and military defence forces, notably the Kamajors led by Samuel Hinga Norman.

Return to Sierra Leone
Once again, in pursuit of peace, President Kabbah signed the Lomé Peace Accord with the RUF rebel leader Foday Sankoh on 7 July 1999. Notwithstanding repeated violations by the RUF, the document, known as the Lomé Peace Agreement, remained the cornerstone of sustainable peace, security, justice and national reconciliation in Sierra Leone. On 18 January 2002, at a ceremony marking the conclusion of the disarmament and demobilization of ex-combatants under the auspices of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), he declared that the rebel war was over.

Saved by Nigeria and Britain
Although elected as president, he faced the task of fighting a brutal enemy. His most crucial military support was however from outside; Nigeria was the foremost participant as they crucially intervened under the leadership of General Sani Abacha, who was then the military head of his country. In February 1998, he sent his troops to push out the infamous military junta and rebel alliance of Johnny Paul Koroma and Sam Bockarie, known as Maskita. The rebels however continued their attempt to overthrow Kabbah's government, despite signing numerous peace accords with President Kabbah. In May 2000, Foday Saybanah Sankoh, who was then part of Kabbah's cabinet, kidnapped several UN troops, and then ordered his rebels to march to Freetown. Trouble was looming as the capital was once more threatened with another January 6, 1999, scenario. But with the timely intervention of the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, 800 British troops were sent to Freetown to halt the impending rebel march to the city. President Kabbah was very grateful to the British Prime Minister, calling his intervention "timely" and one that "Sierra Leonean people will never forget".

Ending of the Civil War
As president, Kabbah opened direct negotiations with the RUF rebels in order to end the civil war. He signed several peace accords with the rebel leader Foday Sankoh, including the 1999 Lomé Peace Accord, in which the rebels, for the first time agreed to a temporary cease fire with the Sierra Leone government. When the cease fire agreement with the rebels collapsed, Kabbah campaigned for international assistance from the British, the United Nations Security Council, the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States to defeat the rebels and restore peace and order in Sierra Leone.

In October 1999, the United Nations agreed to send peacekeepers to help restore order and disarm the rebels. The first of the 6,000-member force began arriving in December, and the UN Security Council voted in February 2000 to increase the force to 11,000, and later to 13,000. The UN peacekeeping forces were made up mainly of soldiers from the British special forces, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. The African Union special forces sent to Sierra Leone to assist the government in fighting the rebels were made up mainly of soldiers from Nigeria, Guinea, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Zambia and The Gambia. The international forces, led by the British troops, launched a number of successful military operations to repel the RUF rebels and retake many of the areas of the country that were under the rebel control. The rebel lines of communication were severely disrupted and many senior rebel leaders were captured or fled the country, including the RUF leader Foday Sankoh, who was captured.

The rebels finally agreed to be disarmed; in return the Sierra Leone government, led by Kabbah, offered them amnesty and career opportunities and counselling. The child rebels were placed in public schools, also offered counselling and reunited with family members. In 2001, UN forces moved in rebel-held areas and began to disarm the rebels.

The civil war was officially declared over in early 2002 by Kabbah. Tens of thousands of Sierra Leoneans across the country took to the streets to celebrate the end of the war. Kabbah went on to easily win his final five years term in office in the presidential election later that year with 70.1% of the vote, defeating his main opponent Ernest Bai Koroma of the main opposition All People's Congress (APC). International observers declared the election free and fair. After the contribution made by the Bangladesh UN Peacekeeping Force in the war, Kabbah declared Bengali an honorary official language in December 2002.

End of term and post-presidency
Kabbah left office in September 2007 at the end of his second 5-year term. Constitutionally, he was ineligible to seek re-election. His Vice-president, Solomon Berewa, ran as the SLPP candidate to succeed Kabbah but was defeated by opposition candidate Ernest Bai Koroma of the APC.

Kabbah was the head of the Commonwealth's observer mission for the December 2007 Kenyan election, as well as the head of the African Union's observer mission for the March 2008 Zimbabwean election which he condemned as being "rife with fraud and abuse" and "plagued by outrageous violence."

Death
Kabbah died at his home in Juba Hill, a middle class neighborhood in the west end of Freetown at the age of 82 on March 13, 2014, after a short illness. Following the announcement of Kabbah's death, Sierra Leone's President Ernest Bai Koroma declared a week of national mourning; and he ordered the country's flags to be flown at half mast throughout Sierra Leone.

A state funeral was held for Kabbah. The funeral service was attended by several former heads of state, international delegations, former and current government officials, regardless of their political parties, and members of the civil services.

On March 21, 2014, Kabbah's coffin was carried by soldiers of the Sierra Leone Armed Forces into the Sierra Leone House of Parliament where members of parliament paid their last respects to the former head of state. On March 23, 2014, Kabbah's coffin was brought to the National Stadium, as thousands of Sierra Leoneans lined the streets of Freetown to say goodbye to their former leader. Kabbah's body was then carried by soldiers to the Mandingo Central Mosque in Freetown where an Islamic prayer service was held before he was laid to rest at the Kissi Road Cemetery, next to his mother Hajah Adama Kabbah's grave.

Personal life
Kabbah's wife Patricia, an ethnic Sherbro, died in 1998. He has five children: Mariama, Abu, Michael, and Tejan Jr., and six grandchildren: Simone, Aidan, Abubakarr Sidique, Mariama, Nkoya, Tejan, and Zainab Kabbah. In 2008 he married Isata Jabbie Kabbah, who was about 40 years his junior.

Honors
President Kabbah, as chancellor of the University of Sierra Leone in Freetown holds an honorary doctor of laws degree of the university. In September 2001 Southern Connecticut State University in the United States awarded him with an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws, in recognition of his effort to bring peace to his country. In July 2006, he received another honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom, for his contribution to restoring peace in his country after a decade of civil war, and for working towards political and economic reconstruction following the end of the war.

Kabbah was a grand commander of the Order of the Republic of Sierra Leone.

title: Ahmad Tejan Kabbah


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User talk:Valisk

Hello, welcome to Wikipedia. Here are some useful links in case you haven't already found them;

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If you have any questions, see the help pages, add a question to the village pump or ask me on my talk page. I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian!

Tip: you can sign your name with ~

snoyes 20:04, 8 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Mr Holroyd, I think that you might be interested (considering your comments at Talk:Horatio Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener of Khartoum) in a vote presently occurring at Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Peerage, the vote being generally on the inclusion of the peerage title in the titles of biographical articles on peers. The first poll aims to decide whether peerage titles should in general be used or not. (Some have expressed the opinion that peerage titles are "antiquated appendages", and that Wikipedia ought not to use them in entitling articles.) The second poll aims to decide whether or not there ought to be exceptions to the rule of inclusion of peerage titles, assuming that the first poll requires them to be included. -- Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth

Thank you for bringing that to my attention Lord Emsworth.

John Holroyd Esq. Valisk 04:55, 12 Jan 2004 (UTC)

Gordon Memorial College
There are no sources for this article. Please provide them in a references section. Thanx. TheRingess 08:02, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

Added some now Valisk 17:20, 30 December 2005 (UTC)

Talk:Cecil Rhodes
Very good! (Or failing that, it got a laugh out of me!) Happy New Year!! Pdfpdf (talk) 13:17, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

File:10th-irish-div-symbol.gif
Just to let you know that I recently copied the above image that you uploaded to Wikipedia over to WikiMedia Commons, the Wikimedia central media repository for all free media. The image had been tagged with the Copy to Wikimedia Commons template. Your image is now available to all Wikimedia projects at the following location: Commons:File:10th-irish-div-symbol.gif. The original version of the image uploaded to Wikipedia has been tagged with WP:CSD. Cheers! --Captain-tucker (talk) 00:59, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: User talk:Valisk


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Kowloon Walled City Park

The Kowloon Walled City Park is a park in Kowloon City, Kowloon, Hong Kong. The Kowloon Walled City had been a military stronghold since the 15th century due to its coastal location and was a slum. Under an agreement between the Government of Hong Kong and the People's Republic of China, the Kowloon Walled City was demolished in the 1990s. Some historic buildings and features were preserved for incorporation into the new park.

The Kowloon Walled City Park is designed resembling a Jiangnan (江南) garden of the early Qing dynasty. The park, 31,000 square metres (7.66 acres) in total, is divided into eight theme zones with their own characteristic scenery, matching with the style of the whole park. The design was awarded a Diploma at the IGO Stuttgart Expo 93 (International Garden Exposition).

History
In the middle of the 19th century, the Qing government started to build an enclave beside Kowloon Bay, surrounded by stone walls. The Kowloon Walled City was initially used for military purposes, housing many soldiers and their families. During World War II, the stone walls were demolished by the Imperial Japanese Army. Part of them were buried and well preserved under the soil. By the 1970s, the population of the city had risen to 41,000. The number of buildings was 503 in 1994. By that time, the British colonial government found it increasingly difficult to manage and control the serious crime in the area related to drugs, illegal gambling, prostitution and quackery. Domestic factories, including textile, candy-making and production of jook-sing noodles, were situated in the area. After the Sino-British Joint Declaration in 1984, Britain and China embarked on a discussion about solving the problems in the Walled City, and subsequently announced its demolition on 14 January 1987. Between 1987 and 1989 residents were resettled, and demolition began in 1993.

By 1995 the site had been transformed into a park for nearby residents. Due to its proximity to the Kai Tak Airport, and so that the park could have a more open view, regulation of the height of buildings was strictly enforced.

Featured facilities
The park consists mainly of eight landscape features: the Yamen, Old South Gate , Eight Floral Walks , Garden of Four Seasons , Garden of Chinese Zodiac , Chess Garden , Mountain View Pavilion as well as the Fei Sing Pavilion  and Guibi Rock.

The Yamen is located in the centre of the Park and is the only remaining old Qing building. It was built in 1847; its interior was dominated by the offices of the Commodore of the Dapeng Brigade and the Kowloon Assistant Military Inspectorate. It was designed with three rows and four wings of houses. Its walls and column bases are built from bricks and granite, while the roof is a traditional structure covered with cylindrical and flat tiles. After 1899 the Yamen was used for charitable purposes, like housing elderly. It is now officially classified as a declared monument in Hong Kong. Six exhibition rooms are housed inside.

The original site of the South Gate has been designated as a declared monument and all related relics unearthed have been preserved. Flagstone pavement, cornerstones of the buildings, and a drain were discovered. Also, two granite plaques with Chinese characters for "South Gate" and "Kowloon Walled City" were unearthed at the site of the original gate when the Walled City was torn down in 1994.

The Garden features 12 Chinese zodiac sculptures. They are arranged according to the Heavenly Stems (Tiangan 天干) and Earthly Branches (Dizhi 地支) in Chinese astrology.

The Guibi Rock was carved from Taihu stone. It is named Guibi because its veins are similar to those of ancient jade.{explain} Fui Sing Pavilion symbolises a constellation of literature and wisdom. Guibi Rock also symbolises the hope of returning Hong Kong to China.

The Mountain View Pavilion provides a view of the Lion Rock, which resembles a lion sitting with its head facing the Pavilion.

There are four large chessboards built on the ground with pebbles for visitors to enjoy a game of chess.

Located to the west of Yamen, the Kwong Yam Square is a garden where flowers of the four seasons could{clarify} be seen.

Since April 2009 there also is a permanent exhibition in the park about the history of the site. It consists of one outdoor display area and six exhibition rooms, which are located inside the Yamen.

The outdoor display area near the South Gate shows a tablet{clarify} and a model of the former Walled City. The front of the tablet has an introductory article inscribed, whereas the back presents a cross-section of the pre-demolished city and a depiction of the daily lives of its residents. Behind the tablet stands a bronze miniature model of the city which allows the visitors to touch and have a closer look.

The six exhibition rooms illustrate the living environment inside the Walled City through interactive imagery and sound.

title: Kowloon Walled City Park


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Talk:Eucharist

Eucharist as a product
User Pbritti is determined to change the introduction of the article by saying that the Eucharist is a product without any source, he hides behind himself by saying that since the article "Blessed Sacrament" said, without any source, that the Eucharist is a product, he says that he must merge it. Although it is a lie that the article "Blessed Sacrament" says that the Eucharist is a product.

He can't merge something that simply doesn't exist in the previous article.

I consider that the original introduction of the article be maintained, and that he stops insisting that the Eucharist is a product under the pretext that he must merge it just because the article "Blessed Sacrament" said that it is a product (although looking at the history of the article "Blessed Sacrament" this also never says that the Eucharist is a product)

So I don't understand why he insists that he must merge that the Eucharist is a product, when the article "Blessed Sacrament" simply did not say that, so he can't merge something that is simply not in the "Blessed Sacrament" article. Rafaelosornio (talk) 13:13, 22 August 2023 (UTC)
 * Do you have a preferred phrasing that is supported by sources? I have sourced my preferred phrasing (which you promptly reverted to "outcome", for unclear reasons). ~ Pbritti (talk) 15:49, 22 August 2023 (UTC)
 * There is no word supported by sources that the Eucharist is a product or an outcome, it would be best to return to the introduction that the article already had.Rafaelosornio (talk) 16:42, 22 August 2023 (UTC)
 * I provided two sources that use the wording I preferred. As such, the wording will be restored unless you can provide sourcing that suggests it is somehow incorrect. ~ Pbritti (talk) 17:03, 22 August 2023 (UTC)
 * Wikipedia does not accept original research, you searched for those two articles in order to impose your point of view (that the Eucharist is a product), to start with the EWTN article that you put, it never says that the Eucharist is a product, and the other article on the page "stmartin-in-the -fields.org" it says that the consecrated elements are the end product of the Eucharistic Prayer. It should be discussed and compared with other sources; since no one else considers the Eucharist as a product as far as I know. Rafaelosornio (talk) 03:38, 25 August 2023 (UTC)
 * So, is there not a source, or is he cherry-picking the source? Regardless of what Pbritti says, clarifies, or reiterates to you, you seem to choose to take issue with it. IMO there is a clear lack of WP:AGF on your part, especially when you view cited and supported edits as "imposing" a point of view. Maximilian775 (talk) 04:17, 25 August 2023 (UTC)

You said no sources said something and then I gave you sources. Are you confused regarding what this article is about? This article is about a.) the rite of the Eucharist, defined in The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church as the mechanism that "conveyed to the believer the Body and Blood of Christ" where many Christians consider bread and wine "transformed" or transubstantiated into the Body and Blood of Christ; and b.) the product of said rite, defined by The Maryknoll Catholic Dictionary as the Body and Blood of Christ consecrated from bread and wine. The b definition was folded into the article as a result of a merge discussion. If you can identify why we should both ignore sources I have provided and indicate alternate phrasing that explicitly acknowledges the expanded coverage of this article, please do. ~ Pbritti (talk) 04:27, 25 August 2023 (UTC)
 * If I remember correctly neither this article nor the one on "Blessed Sacrament" the source of "The Maryknoll Catholic Dictionary" is placed.Rafaelosornio (talk) 04:58, 25 August 2023 (UTC)
 * Yes, I am demonstrating that there are multiple sources available on this. I can add these additional sources, but you've removed sources when I've added them before. Will you remove them again if I add them? ~ Pbritti (talk) 05:29, 25 August 2023 (UTC)

Reformed (Continental Reformed, Presbyterian and Congregationalist)
It is said that Calvin believed that the eucharist should be celebrated frequently but seems to have been overruled by the "city council'" But which city? It sounds like Geneva but it could be somewhere else. Furthermore there doesn't seem to be a source for this statement. Is it an accurate statement? Spinney Hill (talk) 07:58, 6 September 2023 (UTC)

Large duplication and loss of focus
Under the main section Ritual and liturgy there is a huge subsection "Catholic Church". Yet this correctly immediately starts "Main article: Eucharist in the Catholic Church".

The whole purpose of such Main article:... indicators is to avoid unnecessary clogging up of the overview article (in this case, this "Eucharist" article) with detail than better belongs at that target article and to avoid duplication here at the source article. If a section says Main article:... then the section should specifically aim to be kept brief. See Template:Main.

So I propose a significant stripping down this section, to honour that idea of Main article:....

(A similar principle also applies later at subsection "Anglican", which similarly already has Main article: Anglican eucharistic theology so can be similarly stripped down to a summary.)

Any counter-thoughts?

Feline Hymnic (talk) 21:48, 1 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Not only do I agree, but you've made me realize I probably need to suggest a move on Anglican eucharistic theology to Eucharist in Anglicanism. Make what changes you deem appropriate. ~ Pbritti (talk) 22:44, 1 November 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:Eucharist


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Omar al-Bashir

Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir (born 1 January 1944) is a Sudanese former military officer and politician who served as Sudan's head of state under various titles from 1989 until 2019, when he was deposed in a coup d'état. He was subsequently incarcerated, tried and convicted on multiple corruption charges. He came to power in 1989 when, as a brigadier general in the Sudanese Army, he led a group of officers in a military coup that ousted the democratically elected government of prime minister Sadiq al-Mahdi after it began negotiations with rebels in the south; he subsequently replaced President Ahmed al-Mirghani as head of state. He was elected three times as president in elections that have been under scrutiny for electoral fraud. In 1992, al-Bashir founded the National Congress Party, which remained the dominant political party in the country until 2019. In March 2009, al-Bashir became the first sitting head of state to be indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), for allegedly directing a campaign of mass killing, rape, and pillage against civilians in Darfur. On 11 February 2020, the Government of Sudan announced that it had agreed to hand over al-Bashir to the ICC for trial.

In October 2005, al-Bashir's government negotiated an end to the Second Sudanese Civil War, leading to a referendum in the south, resulting in the separation of the south as the country of South Sudan. In the Darfur region, he oversaw the War in Darfur that resulted in death tolls of around 10,000 according to the Sudanese Government, but most sources suggest between 200,000 and 400,000. During his presidency, there were several violent struggles between the Janjaweed militia and rebel groups such as the Sudanese Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) in the form of guerrilla warfare in the Darfur region. The civil war displaced over 2.5 million people out of a total population of 6.2 million in Darfur and created a crisis in the diplomatic relations between Sudan and Chad. The rebels in Darfur lost the support from Libya after the death of Muammar Gaddafi and the collapse of his regime in 2011.

In July 2008, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno Ocampo, accused al-Bashir of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in Darfur. The court issued an arrest warrant for al-Bashir on 4 March 2009 on counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, but ruled that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute him for genocide. However, on 12 July 2010, the court issued a second warrant containing three separate counts of genocide. The new warrant, like the first, was delivered to the Sudanese government, which did not recognize either the warrant or the ICC. The indictments do not allege that Bashir personally took part in such activities; instead, they say that he is "suspected of being criminally responsible, as an indirect co-perpetrator". The court's decision was opposed by the African Union, Arab League and Non-Aligned Movement as well as the governments of Libya, Somalia, Jordan, Turkey, Egypt, South Sudan, Djibouti, Eritrea, Pakistan, Algeria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Palestine, Ethiopia, Tunisia, Morocco, Lebanon, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

From December 2018 onwards, al-Bashir faced large-scale protests which demanded his removal from power. On 11 April 2019, Bashir was ousted in a military coup d'état. In September 2019, Bashir was replaced by the Transitionary Military Council which transferred executive power to a mixed civilian–military Sovereignty Council and a civilian prime minister, Abdalla Hamdok. Two months later, the Forces of Freedom and Change alliance (which holds indirect political power during the 39-month Sudanese transition to democracy), Hamdok, and Sovereignty Council member Siddiq Tawer stated that Bashir would be eventually transferred to the ICC. He was convicted of corruption in December of that year and sentenced to two years in prison. His trial regarding his role in the coup that brought him into power started on 21 July 2020.

Early and family life
Al-Bashir was born on 1 January 1944 in Hosh Bannaga, a village on the outskirts of Shendi, just north of the capital, Khartoum, to a family that hails from the Ja'alin tribe of northern Sudan. His mother was Hedieh Mohamed al-Zain, who died in 2019. His father, Hassan ibn Ahmed, was a smalltime dairy farmer. He is the second among twelve brothers and sisters, his younger brother Othman was killed in South Sudan during his presidency. His uncle, Al Taib Mustafa, was a journalist, politician, and noted opponent of South Sudan. As a boy, he was nicknamed 'Omeira' – Little Omar. He belongs to the Banu Bedaria, a Bedouin tribe belonging to the larger Ja'alin coalition, a Sudanese Arab tribe in middle north of Sudan (once a part of the Kingdom of Egypt and Sudan). As a child, Al-Bashir loved football. "Always in defence," a cousin said. "That's why he went into the army." He received his primary education there, and his family later moved to Khartoum North where he completed his secondary education and became a supporter of Al-Hilal. Al-Bashir is married to his cousin Fatima Khalid. He also has a second wife named Widad Babiker Omer, who had a number of children with her first husband Ibrahim Shamsaddin, a member of the Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation who had died in a helicopter crash. Al-Bashir does not have any children of his own.

In 1975, al-Bashir was sent to the United Arab Emirates as the Sudanese military attaché. When he returned home, al-Bashir was made a garrison commander. In 1981, al-Bashir returned to his paratroop background when he became the commander of an armored parachute brigade.

The Sudanese Ministry of Defense website says that al-Bashir was in the Western Command from 1967 to 1969 and then the Airborne Forces from 1969 to 1987 until he was appointed commander of the 8th Infantry Brigade (independent) from the period 1987 to 30 June 1989.

Coup d'état

When he returned to Sudan as a colonel in the Sudanese Army, al-Bashir led a group of army officers in ousting the unstable coalition government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi in a bloodless military coup on 30 June 1989. Under al-Bashir's leadership, the new military government suspended political parties and introduced an Islamic legal code on the national level. He then became chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation (a newly established body with legislative and executive powers for what was described as a transitional period), and assumed the posts of chief of state, prime minister, chief of the armed forces, and Minister of Defence. Subsequent to al-Bashir's promotion to the chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation, he allied himself with Hassan al-Turabi, the leader of the National Islamic Front, who, along with al-Bashir, began institutionalizing Sharia law in the northern part of Sudan. Further on, al-Bashir issued purges and executions of people whom he alleged to be coup leaders in the upper ranks of the army, the banning of associations, political parties, and independent newspapers, as well as the imprisonment of leading political figures and journalists.

On 16 October 1993, al-Bashir's increased his power when he appointed himself President of the country, after which he disbanded the Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation and all other rival political parties. The executive and legislative powers of the council were later given to al-Bashir completely. In the early 1990s, al-Bashir's administration gave the green light to float a new currency called Sudanese dinar to replace the battered old Sudanese pound that had lost 90 percent of its worth during the turbulent 1980s; the currency was later changed back to pounds, but at a much higher rate. He was later elected president (with a five-year term) in the 1996 national election, where he was the only candidate legally allowed to run for election.

Elections
Omar al-Bashir was elected president (with a five-year term) in the 1996 national election and Hassan al-Turabi was elected to a seat in the National Assembly where he served as speaker of the National Assembly "during the 1990s". In 1998, al-Bashir and the Presidential Committee put into effect a new constitution, allowing limited political associations in opposition to al-Bashir's National Congress Party and his supporters to be formed. On 12 December 1999, al-Bashir sent troops and tanks against parliament and ousted Hassan al-Turabi, the speaker of parliament, in a palace coup.

He was reelected by popular vote for a five-year term during the 2000 Sudanese general election.

From 2005 to 2010, a transitional government was set up under a 2005 peace accord that ended the 21-year long Second Sudanese Civil War and saw the formation of a power-sharing agreement between Salva Kiir's Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) and al Bashir's National Congress Party (NCP).

Al-Bashir was reelected president in the 2010 Sudanese general election with 68% of the popular vote; while Salva Kiir was elected President of Southern Sudan. These elections were agreed on earlier in the 2005 peace accord. The election was marked by corruption, intimidation, and inequality. European observers, from the European Union and the Carter Center, criticised the polls as "not meeting international standards". Candidates opposed to the SPLM said they were often detained or stopped from campaigning. Sudan Democracy First, an umbrella organisation in the north, put forward what it called strong evidence of rigging by al-Bashir's NCP. The Sudanese Network for Democracy and Elections (Sunde) spoke of harassment and intimidation in the south, by the security forces of the SPLM.

Al-Bashir had achieved economic growth in Sudan. This was pushed further by the drilling and extraction of oil- However, economic growth was not shared by all. Headline inflation in 2012 approached the threshold of chronic inflation (period average 36%), about 11% up from the budget projection of 2012 reflecting the combined effects of inflationary financing, the depreciation of the exchange rate, and the continued removal of subsidies, as well as high food and energy prices. This economic downturn prompted cost of living riots that erupted into Arab Spring-style anti-government demonstrations, raising discontent within the Sudanese Workers' Trade Union Federation (SWTUF). They threatened to hold nationwide strikes in support of higher wages. The continued deterioration in the value of the Sudanese pound (SDG) posed grave downside risks to already soaring inflation. This, coupled with the economic slowdown, presents serious challenges to the implementation of the approved Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (I-PRSP).

Tensions with Hassan al-Turabi
In the mid-1990s, a feud between al-Bashir and al-Turabi began, mostly due to al-Turabi's links to Islamic fundamentalist groups, as well as allowing them to operate out of Sudan, even personally inviting Osama bin Laden to the country. The United States had listed Sudan as a state sponsor of terrorism since 1993, mostly due to al-Bashir and Hassan al-Turabi taking complete power in the early 1990s. U.S. firms have been barred from doing business in Sudan since 1997. In 1998, the Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum was destroyed by a U.S. cruise missile strike because of its alleged production of chemical weapons and links to al-Qaeda. However the U.S. State Department Bureau of Intelligence and Research wrote a report in 1999 questioning the attack on the factory, suggesting that the connection to bin Laden was not accurate; James Risen reported in The New York Times: "Now, the analysts renewed their doubts and told Assistant Secretary of State Phyllis Oakley that the C.I.A.'s evidence on which the attack was based was inadequate. Ms. Oakley asked them to double-check; perhaps there was some intelligence they had not yet seen. The answer came back quickly: There was no additional evidence. Ms. Oakley called a meeting of key aides and a consensus emerged: Contrary to what the Administration was saying, the case tying Al Shifa to Mr. bin Laden or to chemical weapons was weak."

After being re-elected president of Sudan with a five-year-term in the 1996 election with 75.7% of the popular vote, al-Bashir issued the registration of legalized political parties in 1999 after being influenced by al-Turabi. Rival parties such as the Liberal Democrats of Sudan and the Alliance of the Peoples' Working Forces, headed by former Sudanese President Gaafar Nimeiry, were established and were allowed to run for election against al-Bashir's National Congress Party, however, they failed to achieve significant support, and al-Bashir was re-elected president, receiving 86.5% of the popular vote in the 2000 presidential election. At the legislative elections that same year, al-Bashir's National Congress Party won 355 out of 360 seats, with al-Turabi as its chairman. However, after al-Turabi introduced a bill to reduce the president's powers, prompting al-Bashir to dissolve parliament and declare a state of emergency, tensions began to rise between al-Bashir and al-Turabi. Reportedly, al-Turabi was suspended as chairman of National Congress Party, after he urged a boycott of the president's re-election campaign. Then, a splinter-faction led by al-Turabi, the Popular National Congress Party (PNC) signed an agreement with Sudan People's Liberation Army, which led al-Bashir to believe that they were plotting to overthrow him and the government.

Further on, al-Turabi's influence and that of his party's "'internationalist' and ideological wing" waned "in favor of the 'nationalist' or more pragmatic leaders who focus on trying to recover from Sudan's disastrous international isolation and economic damage that resulted from ideological adventurism". At the same time, Sudan worked to appease the United States and other international critics by expelling members of Egyptian Islamic Jihad and encouraging bin Laden to leave.

On al-Bashir's orders, al-Turabi was imprisoned based on allegations of conspiracy in 2000 before being released in October 2003. Al-Turabi was again imprisoned in March 2004 and released in July 2005, at the height of the peace agreement in the civil war.

Engagement with the U.S. and European countries

From the early 1990s, after al-Bashir assumed power, Sudan backed Iraq in its invasion of Kuwait and was accused of harboring and providing sanctuary and assistance to Islamic terrorist groups. Carlos the Jackal, Osama bin Laden, Abu Nidal and others labeled "terrorist leaders" by the United States and its allies resided in Khartoum. Sudan's role in the Popular Arab and Islamic Congress (PAIC), spearheaded by Hassan al-Turabi, represented a matter of great concern to the security of American officials and dependents in Khartoum, resulting in several reductions and evacuations of American personnel from Khartoum in the early to mid 1990s.

Sudan's Islamist links with international terrorist organizations represented a special matter of concern for the American government, leading to Sudan's 1993 designation as a state sponsor of terrorism and a suspension of U.S. Embassy operations in Khartoum in 1996. In late 1994, in an initial effort to reverse his nation's growing image throughout the world as a country harboring terrorists, Bashir secretly cooperated with French special forces to orchestrate the capture and arrest on Sudanese soil of Carlos the Jackal.

In early 1996, al-Bashir authorized his Defense Minister at the time, El Fatih Erwa, to make a series of secret trips to the United States to hold talks with American officials, including officers of the CIA and United States Department of State about American sanctions policy against Sudan and what measures might be taken by the Bashir regime to remove the sanctions. Erwa was presented with a series of demands from the United States, including demands for information about Osama bin Laden and other radical Islamic groups. The US demand list also encouraged Bashir's regime to move away from activities, such as hosting the Popular Arab and Islamic Congress, that impinged on Sudanese efforts to reconcile with the West. Sudan's Mukhabarat (central intelligence agency) spent half a decade amassing intelligence data on bin Laden and a wide array of Islamists through their periodic annual visits for the PAIC conferences. In May 1996, after the series of Erwa secret meetings on US soil, the Clinton Administration demanded that Sudan expel Bin Laden. Bashir complied.

Controversy erupted about whether Sudan had offered to extradite bin Laden in return for rescinding American sanctions that were interfering with Sudan's plans to develop oil fields in southern areas of the country. American officials insisted the secret meetings were agreed only to pressure Sudan into compliance on a range of anti-terrorism issues. The Sudanese insisted that an offer to extradite bin Laden had been made in a secret one-on-one meeting at a Fairfax hotel between Erwa and the then CIA Africa Bureau chief on condition that Washington end sanctions against Bashir's regime. Ambassador Timothy M. Carney attended one of the Fairfax hotel meetings. In a joint opinion piece in the Washington Post Outlook Section in 2003, Carney and Ijaz argued that in fact the Sudanese had offered to extradite bin Laden to a third country in exchange for sanctions relief.

In August 1996, American hedge-fund manager Mansoor Ijaz traveled to Sudan and met with senior officials including al-Turabi and al-Bashir. Ijaz asked Sudanese officials to share intelligence data with US officials on bin Laden and other Islamists who had traveled to and from Sudan during the previous five years. Ijaz conveyed his findings to US officials upon his return, including Sandy Berger, then Clinton's deputy national security adviser, and argued for the US to constructively engage the Sudanese and other Islamic countries. In April 1997, Ijaz persuaded al-Bashir to make an unconditional offer of counterterrorism assistance in the form of a signed presidential letter that Ijaz delivered to Congressman Lee H. Hamilton by hand.

In late September 1997, months after the Sudanese overture (made by al-Bashir in the letter to Hamilton), the U.S. State Department, under Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's directive, first announced it would return American diplomats to Khartoum to pursue counterterrorism data in the Mukhabarat's possession. Within days, the U.S. reversed that decision and imposed harsher and more comprehensive economic, trade, and financial sanctions against Sudan, which went into effect in October 1997. In August 1998, in the wake of the East Africa embassy bombings, the U.S. launched cruise missile strikes against Khartoum. U.S. Ambassador to Sudan, Tim Carney, departed post in February 1996 and no new ambassador was designated until December 2019, when U.S. president Donald Trump's administration reached an agreement with the new Sudanese government to exchange ambassadors.

Al-Bashir announced in August 2015 that he would travel to New York in September to speak at the United Nations. It was unclear to date if al-Bashir would have been allowed to travel, due to previous sanctions.

South Sudan

When al-Bashir took power the Second Sudanese Civil War had been ongoing for nine years. The war soon effectively developed into a conflict between the Sudan People's Liberation Army and al-Bashir's government. The war resulted in millions of southerners being displaced, starved, and deprived of education and health care, with almost two million casualties. Because of these actions, various international sanctions were placed on Sudan. International pressure intensified in 2001, however, and leaders from the United Nations called for al-Bashir to make efforts to end the conflict and allow humanitarian and international workers to deliver relief to the southern regions of Sudan. Much progress was made throughout 2003. The peace was consolidated with the official signing by both sides of the Nairobi Comprehensive Peace Agreement 9 January 2005, granting Southern Sudan autonomy for six years, to be followed by a referendum on independence. It created a co-vice president position and allowed the north and south to split oil deposits equally, but also left both the north's and south's armies in place. John Garang, the south's peace agreement appointed co-vice president, died in a helicopter crash on 1 August 2005, three weeks after being sworn in. This resulted in riots, but the peace was eventually re-established and allowed the southerners to vote in a referendum of independence at the end of the six-year period. On 9 July 2011, following a referendum, the region of Southern Sudan split off from Sudan to form South Sudan.

War in Darfur

Since 1968, Sudanese politicians had attempted to create separate factions of "Africans" and "Arabs" in the western area of Darfur, a difficult task as the population were substantially intermarried and could not be distinguished by skin tone. This internal political instability was aggravated by cross-border conflicts with Chad and Libya and the 1984–1985 Darfur famine. In 2003, the Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudanese Liberation Army –accusing the government of neglecting Darfur and oppressing non-Arabs in favor of Arabs – began an armed insurgency.

Estimates vary of the number of deaths resulting from attacks on the non-Arab/Arabized population by the Janjaweed militia: the Sudanese government claim that up to 10,000 have been killed in this conflict; the United Nations reported that about 300,000 had died as of 2010, and other reports place the figures at between 200,000 and 400,000. During an interview with David Frost for the Al Jazeera English programme Frost Over The World in June 2008, al-Bashir insisted that no more than 10,000 had died in Darfur.

The Sudanese government had been accused of suppressing information by jailing and killing witnesses since 2004, and tampering with evidence, such as covering up mass graves. The Sudanese government has also arrested and harassed journalists, thus limiting the extent of press coverage of the situation in Darfur. While the United States government has described the conflict as genocide, the UN has not recognized the conflict as such. (see List of declarations of genocide in Darfur)

The United States Government stated in September 2004 "that genocide has been committed in Darfur and that the Government of Sudan and the Janjaweed bear responsibility and that genocide may still be occurring". On 29 June 2004, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell met with al-Bashir in Sudan and urged him to make peace with the rebels, end the crisis, and lift restrictions on the delivery of humanitarian aid to Darfur. Kofi Annan met with al-Bashir three days later and demanded that he disarm the Janjaweed.

After fighting stopped in July and August, on 31 August 2006, the United Nations Security Council had approved Resolution 1706 which called for a new UN peacekeeping force consisting of 17,300 military personnel and 3,300 civilians and named the United Nations–African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID). It was intended to have supplanted or supplemented a 7,000-troop African Union Mission in Sudan peacekeeping force. Sudan strongly objected to the resolution and said that it would see the UN forces in the region as "foreign invaders". A day after rejecting the UN forces into Sudan, the Sudanese military launched a major offensive in the region. In March 2007, the United Nations Human Rights Council accused Sudan's government of taking part in "gross violations" in Darfur and urged the international community to take urgent action to protect people in Darfur. A high-level technical consultation was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 11–12 June 2007, pursuant to the 4 June 2007 letters of the secretary-general and the chairperson of the African Union Commission, which were addressed to al-Bashir. The technical consultations were attended by delegations from the Government of Sudan, the African Union, and the United Nations.

In 2009, General Martin Luther Agwai, head of the UNAMID, said the war was over in the region, although low-level disputes remained. "Banditry, localised issues, people trying to resolve issues over water and land at a local level. But real war as such, I think we are over that," he said. This perspective is contradicted by reports which indicate that violence continues in Darfur while peace efforts have been stalled repeatedly. Violence between Sudan's military and rebel fighters has beset South Kordofan and Blue Nile states since disputed state elections in May 2011, an ongoing humanitarian crisis that has prompted international condemnation and U.S. congressional hearings. In 2012, tensions between Sudan and South Sudan reached a boiling point when the Sudanese military bombed territory in South Sudan, leading to hostilities over the disputed Heglig (or Panthou) oil fields located along the Sudan-South Sudan border. Omar al-Bashir sought the assistance of numerous non-western countries after the West, led by America, imposed sanctions against him, he said: "From the first day, our policy was clear: To look eastward, toward China, Malaysia, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, and even Korea and Japan, even if the Western influence upon some [of these] countries is strong. We believe that the Chinese expansion was natural because it filled the space left by Western governments, the United States, and international funding agencies. The success of the Sudanese experiment in dealing with China without political conditions or pressures encouraged other African countries to look toward China."

Chadian President Idriss Déby visited Khartoum in 2010 and Chad kicked out the Darfuri rebels it had previously supported. Both Sudanese and Chadian sides together established a joint military border patrol.

On 26 October 2011, al-Bashir said that Sudan gave military support to the Libyan rebels, who overthrew Muammar Gaddafi. In a speech broadcast live on state television, al-Bashir said the move was in response to Gaddafi's support for Sudanese rebels three years ago. Sudan and Libya have had a complicated and frequently antagonistic relationship for many years. President al-Bashir said the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), a Darfuri rebel group, had attacked Khartoum three years ago using Libyan trucks, equipment, arms, ammunition and money. He said God had given Sudan a chance to respond, by sending arms, ammunition and humanitarian support to the Libyan revolutionaries. "Our God, high and exalted, from above the seven skies, gave us the opportunity to reciprocate the visit," he said. "The forces which entered Tripoli, part of their arms and capabilities, were 100% Sudanese," he told the crowd. His speech was well received by a large crowd in the eastern Sudanese town of Kassala. But the easy availability of weapons in Libya, and that country's poorly guarded border with Darfur, are also of great concern to the Sudanese authorities.

Al-Bashir in his speech said that his government's priority was to end the armed rebellion and tribal conflicts in order to save blood and direct the energies of young people towards building Sudan instead of "killing and destruction". He called upon youth of the rebel groups to lay down arms and join efforts to build the country. Al Bashir sees himself as a man wronged and misunderstood. He takes full responsibility for the conflict in Darfur, he says, but says that his government did not start the fighting and has done everything in its power to end it.

Al Bashir had signed two peace agreements for Darfur: The agreement also provided for power sharing at the national level: movements that sign the agreement will be entitled to nominate two ministers and two four ministers of state at the federal level and will be able to nominate 20 members to the national legislature. The movements will be entitled to nominate two state governors in the Darfur region.
 * The 2006 Darfur Peace Agreement, also known as the "Abuja Agreement", was signed on 5 May 2006 by the government of Sudan along with a faction of the SLA led by Minni Minnawi. However, the agreement was rejected by two other, smaller groups, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and a rival faction of the SLA led by Abdul Wahid al Nur.
 * The 2011 Darfur Peace Agreement, also known as the "Doha Agreement", was signed in July 2011 between the government of Sudan and the Liberation and Justice Movement. This agreement established a compensation fund for victims of the Darfur conflict, allowed the president of Sudan to appoint a vice-president from Darfur, and established a new Darfur Regional Authority to oversee the region until a referendum can determine its permanent status within the Republic of Sudan.

Indictment by the ICC

On 14 July 2008, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno Ocampo, alleged that al-Bashir bore individual criminal responsibility for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes that had been committed in Darfur since 2003. The prosecutor accused al-Bashir of having "masterminded and implemented" a plan to destroy the three main ethnic groups—Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa—with a campaign of murder, rape, and deportation. The arrest warrant is supported by NATO, the Genocide Intervention Network, and Amnesty International.

An arrest warrant for al-Bashir was issued on 4 March 2009 by a pre-trial chamber composed of judges Akua Kuenyehia of Ghana, Anita Usacka of Latvia, and Sylvia Steiner of Brazil indicting him on five counts of crimes against humanity (murder, extermination, forcible transfer, torture and rape) and two counts of war crimes (pillaging and intentionally directing attacks against civilians). The court ruled that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute him for genocide. However, Usacka wrote a dissenting opinion arguing that there were "reasonable grounds to believe that Omar Al Bashir has committed the crime of genocide".

Sudan is not a state party to the Rome Statute establishing the ICC, and thus claims that it does not have to execute the warrant. However, United Nations Security Council Resolution 1593 (2005) referred Sudan to the ICC, which gives the court jurisdiction over international crimes committed in Sudan and obligates Government of Sudan to cooperate with the ICC, and therefore the court, Amnesty International and others insist that Sudan must comply with the arrest warrant of the International Criminal Court. Amnesty International stated that al-Bashir must turn himself in to face the charges, and that the Sudanese authorities must detain him and turn him over to the ICC if he refuses.

Al-Bashir was the first sitting head of state ever indicted by the ICC. However, the Arab League and the African Union condemned the warrant. Following the indictment Al-Bashir visited China, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and several other countries, all of which refused to have him arrested. ICC member state Chad also refused to arrest al-Bashir during a state visit in July 2010. He was also invited to attend conferences in Denmark and Turkey. On 28 November 2011, following a visit to Kenya, Kenya's High Court Judge Nicholas Ombija ordered the Minister of Internal Security to arrest al-Bashir, "should he set foot in Kenya in the future". In June 2015, while in South Africa for an African Union meeting, al-Bashir was prohibited from leaving that country while a court decided whether he should be handed over to the ICC for war crimes. He, nevertheless, was allowed to leave South Africa soon afterward. Luis Moreno Ocampo and Amnesty International claimed that al-Bashir's plane could be intercepted in International Airspace. Sudan announced that the presidential plane would always be escorted by fighter jets of the Sudanese Air Force to prevent his arrest. In March 2009, just before al-Bashir's visit to Qatar, the Sudanese government was reportedly considering sending fighter jets to accompany his plane to Qatar, possibly in response to France expressing support for an operation to intercept his plane in international airspace, as France has military bases in Djibouti and the United Arab Emirates.

The charges against al-Bashir have been criticized and ignored in Sudan and abroad, particularly in Africa and the Muslim world. Former president of the African Union Muammar al-Gaddafi characterized the indictment as a form of terrorism. He also believed that the warrant is an attempt "by (the west) to recolonize their former colonies". Egypt said, it was "greatly disturbed" by the ICC decision and called for an emergency meeting of the UN security council to defer the arrest warrant. The Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa expressed that the organization emphasizes its solidarity with Sudan and condemned the warrant for "undermining the unity and stability of Sudan". The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation denounced the warrant as unwarranted and totally unacceptable. It argued that the warrant demonstrated "selectivity and double standard applied in relation to issues of war crimes". There have been large demonstrations by Sudanese people supporting President Bashir and opposing the ICC charges.

Al-Bashir has rejected the charges, saying "Whoever has visited Darfur, met officials and discovered their ethnicities and tribes ... will know that all of these things are lies." He described the charges as "not worth the ink they are written in". The warrant was to be delivered to the Sudanese government, which stated that they would not carry it out.

The Sudanese government retaliated against the warrant by expelling a number of international aid agencies, including Oxfam and Mercy Corps. President Bashir described the aid agencies as thieves who take "99 percent of the budget for humanitarian work themselves, giving the people of Darfur 1 percent" and as spies in the work of foreign regimes. Bashir promised that national agencies will provide aid to Darfur.

Al-Bashir was one of the candidates in the 2010 Sudanese presidential election, the first democratic election with multiple political parties participating since the 1986 election. It had been suggested that by holding and winning a legitimate presidential elections in 2010, al-Bashir had hoped to evade the ICC's warrant for his arrest. On 26 April, he was officially declared the winner after Sudan's election commission announced he had received 68% of the votes cast in the election. However, The New York Times noted the voting was "marred by boycotts and reports of intimidation and widespread fraud".

In August 2013, Bashir's plane was blocked from entering Saudi Arabian airspace when Bashir was attempting to attend the inauguration of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, whose country is the main supplier of weapons to Sudan.

A second arrest warrant for al-Bashir was issued on 12 July 2010. The ICC issued an additional warrant adding 3 counts of genocide for the ethnic cleansing of the Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa tribes. The new warrant included the court's conclusion that there were reasonable grounds to suspect that al-Bashir acted with specific intent to destroy in part the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups in the Darfur region. The charges against al-Bashir, in three separate counts, include "genocide by killing", "genocide by causing serious bodily or mental harm" and "genocide by deliberately inflicting on each target group conditions of life calculated to bring about the group's physical destruction". The new warrant acted as a supplement to the first, whereby the charges initially brought against al-Bashir all remained in place, but now included the crime of genocide which was initially ruled out, pending appeal.

Al-Bashir said that Sudan is not a party to the ICC treaty and could not be expected to abide by its provisions just like the United States, China and Russia. He said "It is a political issue and double standards, because there are obvious crimes like Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan, but [they] did not find their way to the International Criminal Court". He added "The same decision in which [the] Darfur case [was] being transferred to the court stated that the American soldiers [in Iraq and Afghanistan] would not be questioned by the court, so it is not about justice, it is a political issue." Al Bashir accused Luis Moreno Ocampo, the ICC's chief prosecutor since 2003 of repeatedly lying in order to damage his reputation and standing. Al-Bashir said "The behavior of the prosecutor of the court, it was clearly the behavior of a political activist not a legal professional. He is now working on a big campaign to add more lies." He added, "The biggest lie was when he said I have $9bn in one of the British banks, and thank God, the British bank and the [British] finance minister … denied these allegations." He also said: "The clearest cases in the world such as Palestine and Iraq and Afghanistan, clear crimes to the whole humanity – all were not transferred to the court."

In October 2013, several members of the African Union expressed anger at the ICC, calling it "racist" for failing to file charges against Western leaders or Western allies while prosecuting only African suspects so far. The African Union demanded that the ICC protect African heads of state from prosecution.

Military intervention in Yemen
In 2015, Sudan participated in the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen against the Shia Houthis and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was deposed during the 2011–2012 Yemeni Revolution. Reuters reported that "The war in Yemen has given Omar Hassan al-Bashir, a skilled political operator who has ruled Sudan for a quarter-century, an opportunity to show wealthy Sunni powers that he can be an asset against Iranian influence – if the price is right."

Allegations of corruption
During the Second Sudanese Civil War, Al-Bashir allegedly looted Sudan of much of its wealth. According to leaked US diplomatic cables, $9 billion of his siphoned wealth was stored in banks in London. Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the chief prosecutor of the ICC, stated that some of the funds were being held in the partially nationalized Lloyds Banking Group. He also reportedly told US officials it was necessary to go public with the scale of al-Bashir's extortion to turn public opinion against him. One US official stated "Ocampo suggested if Bashir's stash of money were disclosed (he put the figure at $9bn), it would change Sudanese public opinion from him being a 'crusader' to that of a thief." "Ocampo reported Lloyd's bank in London may be holding or knowledgeable of the whereabouts of his money," the report says. "Ocampo suggested exposing Bashir had illegal accounts would be enough to turn the Sudanese against him." A leaked diplomatic cable allegedly reveals that the Sudanese president had embezzled US$9 billion in state funds, but Lloyds Bank "insisted it was not aware of any link with Bashir," while a Sudanese government spokesman called the claim "ludicrous" and attacked the motives of the prosecutor. In an interview with the Guardian, al-Bashir said, referring to ICC Prosecutor Ocampo, "The biggest lie was when he said I have $9 billion in one of the British banks, and thank God, the British bank and the [British] finance minister ... denied these allegations." The arrest warrant actively increased public support for al-Bashir in Sudan.

Part of the $8.9 billion fine the BNP Paribas paid for sanctions violations was related to their trade with Sudan. While smaller fines have also been given to other banks, US Justice Department officials said that they found the BNP particularly uncooperative, calling it Sudan's de facto central bank.

African space agency
In 2012, al-Bashir proposed setting up a continent-wide space agency in Africa. In a statement he said, "I'm calling for the biggest project, an African space agency. Africa must have its space agency... [It] will liberate Africa from technological domination". This followed previous calls in 2010 by the African Union (AU) to conduct a feasibility study that would draw up a "road map for the creation of the African space agency". African astronomy received a massive boost when South Africa was awarded the majority shares of the Square Kilometre Array, the world's biggest radio telescope. It will see dishes erected in nine African countries. But skeptics have questioned whether a continental body in the style of NASA or the European Space Agency would be affordable.

Ousting from power
On 11 April 2019, al-Bashir was removed from his post by the Sudanese Armed Forces after many months of protests and civil uprisings. He was immediately placed under house arrest pending the formation of a transitional council. At the time of his arrest al-Bashir had been the longest-serving leader of Sudan since the country gained independence in 1956, and was the longest-ruling president of the Arab League. The army also ordered the arrest of all ministers in al-Bashir's cabinet, dissolved the National Legislature and formed a Transitional Military Council, led by his own First Vice President and Defense Minister, Lieutenant General Ahmed Awad Ibn Auf.

Post-presidency
On 17 April 2019, al-Bashir was moved from house arrest to Khartoum's Kobar Prison. On 13 May 2019, prosecutors charged al-Bashir with "inciting and participating in" the killing of protesters. A trial for corruption (after $130 million was found in his home) and money laundering against al-Bashir started during the following months. On 14 December 2019, he was convicted for money laundering and corruption. He was sentenced to two years in prison.

On 21 July 2020, his trial regarding the coup that brought him to power started. About 20 military personnel were indicted for their roles in the coup. On 20 December 2022, al-Bashir said that he bears full responsibility for the events that took place in the country on June 30, 1989. The trial is expected to continue for several more months and if convicted, Bashir could face a death sentence.

International Criminal Court
On 5 November 2019, the Forces of Freedom and Change alliance (FFC), which holds indirect political power during the 39-month Sudanese transition to democracy, stated that it had reached a consensus decision in favor of transferring al-Bashir to the ICC after the completion of his corruption and money laundering trial. In the following days, Sudanese transition period Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and Sovereignty Council member Siddiq Tawer stated that al-Bashir would be transferred to the ICC. On 11 February 2020, Sudan's ruling military council agreed to hand over the ousted al-Bashir to the ICC in The Hague to face charges of crimes against humanity in Darfur. In October 2020, ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and a delegation arrived in Sudan to discuss with the government about Bashir's indictment. In a deal with Darfurian rebels, the government agreed to set up a special war crimes court that would include Bashir.

Detention
On 26 April 2023, the Sudanese Armed Forces stated that al-Bashir, Bakri Hassan Saleh, Abdel Rahim Mohammed Hussein and two other former officials were taken from Kobar Prison to Alia Military Hospital in Omdurman due to the conflict that erupted earlier that month.

title: Omar al-Bashir


text:
Ronald Venetiaan

Ronald Runaldo Venetiaan (born 18 June 1936) is a former politician who served as the 6th President of Suriname.

Biography
Venetiaan was born in Paramaribo. In 1955, Venetiaan left Suriname to study mathematics and physics at the University of Leiden. In 1964, he obtained his doctorandus, and returned to Suriname to become a mathematics and physics teacher.

In 1973 Venetiaan was Minister of Education for the National Party of Suriname (NPS) in the government of Henck Arron. He was disposed by the 1980 Surinamese coup d'état. Venetiaan decided to teach at the Anton de Kom University.

In 1987, Venetiaan returned to politics as the Chairman of the National Party of Suriname, and as the Minister of Education.

His first term as president ran from 1991 to 1996, after which he lost in the elections to Jules Wijdenbosch. In 2000 however, he regained his former position on the New Front banner, receiving an absolute majority of 37 from 51 votes in the Parliament.

In 2005 he was re-elected to serve a third term as president and sworn in on August 12, 2005. Venetiaan relinquished the Chair of the NPS to Gregory Rusland in 2012, and retired from politics in 2013. Venetiaan thought that it was time that the younger generation take over.

Personal life
Venetiaan is a mathematician beside all political activity. His surname means Venetian (a person from Venice) in Dutch. Venetiaan published his first poetry under the pseudonym Vene in Mamio (1962). Most of his work was never published but was performed in theatre plays. Venetiaan had also used the pseudonym Krumanty. Venetiaan is a collaborator on Chan Santokhi's We gaan Suriname redden (We are going to save Suriname) of 2020.

Ronald Venetiaan is married to Liesbeth Vanenburg, and has three daughters and one son.

title: Ronald Venetiaan


text:
PM (BBC Radio 4)

PM, sometimes referred to as the PM programme to avoid ambiguity, is BBC Radio 4's long-running early evening news and current affairs programme. It is currently presented by Evan Davis and produced by BBC News.

Launched in 1970, PM became the first radio news programme to feature its theme tune. PM is known for its serious news content and occasional satirical commentary. Evan Davis serves as the lead presenter since 2018. The show also spun off a programme called iPM, which allowed listeners to engage in discussions and influence content through a blog. PM has won awards at the Sony Radio Academy Awards, and its production team also works on other Radio 4 programs.

PM airs on weekdays from 5 pm to 6 pm and Saturdays from 5 pm to 5:30 pm.

Broadcast times
PM is broadcast from 5pm to 6pm from Monday to Friday and from 5pm to 5:30pm on Saturdays. On weekdays it is followed by another news programme, the Six O'Clock News. Until 2024, the final five minutes of the weekday edition was only broadcast on FM as long wave broke away from the programme at 5.54pm to broadcast the teatime shipping forecast.

History
PM launched on 6 April 1970, with its first presenters, William Hardcastle and Derek Cooper, promising a programme that "sums up the day, and your evening starts here". Radio 4’s 10pm news programme The World Tonight was launched on the same day.

PM made history for being the first radio news programme to feature its own theme tune. Three have been used, with the last ending in 1997 in the aftermath of the death of Princess Diana. The first PM theme tune was by John Baker and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. The second was produced by Dudley Simpson, with the final one, used between 1988 and 1997, by George Fenton.

Notable presenters after William Hardcastle included Steve Race, Brian Widlake, Robert Williams, Chris Lowe, Roger Cook, Joan Bakewell, Susannah Simons, Rachael Heyhoe Flint and Valerie Singleton (a former Blue Peter presenter — in pre-interview chats, junior ministers "inevitably" claimed that they still had their Blue Peter badge ).

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, the programme's main presenter was Gordon Clough, who would typically prepare for the programme by completing the Times, Guardian and FT crosswords.

Valerie Singleton and Hugh Sykes co-presented the show during the 1980s but had a difficult relationship. Singleton made a one-off return to PM on 29 February 2016 to co-present a special 'Leap Day' programme, alongside Eddie Mair, and proposed marriage to him at the end of the programme.

On 12 April 1998, a Saturday edition of the programme was launched.

iPM
On 12 October 2007, the programme started an additional blog for a spin-off programme called iPM, broadcast on Saturdays at 5:30pm (immediately after the Saturday edition of PM) until 22 December and available as a podcast. 'Through the blog, iPM listeners could discuss ideas with the production team and comment on the stories being lined up for the following show – so what ended up on air was shaped by the listeners.

Quirky features
Though predominantly consisting of serious news, the programme is known for occasional satirical commentary, both from the presenters and in letters from listeners.

In 2008 the programme renamed its financial news slot "Upshares, Downshares" and used the title music of the television drama Upstairs, Downstairs, composed by Alexander Faris. In 2009, variations on the tune performed by PM listeners in a variety of styles from bossa nova to heavy metal became a regular feature. This ended when the UK statistically left recession early in 2010. In October 2010, a compilation was released in aid of the Children in Need charity appeal, for which it raised over £70,000.

Production
PM is currently edited by Owenna Griffiths. The production team also works on Radio 4's The World at One, The World This Weekend and Broadcasting House.

A Radio Times poll in 2005 named Mair as the fifth most powerful person in radio.

Awards
The programme won two accolades in the 2007 Sony Radio Academy Awards: Gold in the Interactive Programme Award, and Silver for Speech Programme.

Video clips

 * Upshares Downshares in the studio
 * Upshares Downshares (electronic guitar arrangement)
 * TV advert

Audio clips

 * Upshares Downshares (Dr Who Radiophonic Workshop arrangement)
 * PM theme tunes

title: PM (BBC Radio 4)


text:
John Bani

John Bennett Bani (born 1 July 1941) is a former Vanuatuan politician who was the president of Vanuatu from 25 March 1999 to 24 March 2004. He is an Anglican priest from Pentecost Island, and is one of the founders of the Cultural Association which later become the Vanua'aku Pati.

title: John Bani


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Wadi

Wadi (وَادِي), alternatively wād (وَاد), Maghrebi Arabic Oued, וָאדִי) is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a river valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water only when heavy rain occurs.

Arroyo (Spanish) is used in the Americas for similar landforms.

Etymology
The term wādī is very widely found in Arabic toponyms. Some Spanish toponyms are derived from Andalusian Arabic where wādī was used to mean a permanent river, for example: Guadalcanal from wādī al-qanāl (وَادِي الْقَنَال, "river of refreshment stalls"), Guadalajara from wādī al-ḥijārah (وَادِي الْحِجَارَة, "river of stones"), or Guadalquivir, from al-wādī al-kabīr (اَلْوَادِي الْكَبِير, "the great river").

General morphology and processes
Wadis are located on gently sloping, nearly flat parts of deserts; commonly they begin on the distal portions of alluvial fans and extend to inland sabkhas or dry lakes. In basin and range topography, wadis trend along basin axes at the terminus of fans. Permanent channels do not exist, due to lack of continual water flow. They have braided stream patterns because of the deficiency of water and the abundance of sediments. Water percolates down into the stream bed, causing an abrupt loss of energy and resulting in vast deposition. Wadis may develop dams of sediment that change the stream patterns in the next flash flood.

Wind also causes sediment deposition. When wadi sediments are underwater or moist, wind sediments are deposited over them. Thus, wadi sediments contain both wind and water sediments.

Sediments and sedimentary structures
Wadi sediments may contain a range of material, from gravel to mud, and the sedimentary structures vary widely. Thus, wadi sediments are the most diverse of all desert environments.

Flash floods result from severe energy conditions and can result in a wide range of sedimentary structures, including ripples and common plane beds. Gravels commonly display imbrications, and mud drapes show desiccation cracks. Wind activity also generates sedimentary structures, including large-scale cross-stratification and wedge-shaped cross-sets. A typical wadi sequence consists of alternating units of wind and water sediments; each unit ranging from about 10 –. Sediment laid by water shows complete fining upward sequence. Gravels show imbrication. Wind deposits are cross-stratified and covered with mud-cracked deposits. Some horizontal loess may also be present.

Hydrological action

Modern English usage differentiates wadis from canyons or washes by the action and prevalence of water. Wadis, as drainage courses, are formed by water, but are distinguished from river valleys or gullies in that surface water is intermittent or ephemeral. Wadis are generally dry year round, except after a rain. The desert environment is characterized by sudden but infrequent heavy rainfall, often resulting in flash floods. Crossing wadis at certain times of the year can be dangerous as a result.

Wadis tend to be associated with centers of human population because sub-surface water is sometimes available in them. Nomadic and pastoral desert peoples will rely on seasonal vegetation found in wadis, even in regions as dry as the Sahara, as they travel in complex transhumance routes.

The centrality of wadis to water – and human life – in desert environments gave birth to the distinct sub-field of wadi hydrology in the 1990s.

Deposits
Deposition in a wadi is rapid because of the sudden loss of stream velocity and seepage of water into the porous sediment. Wadi deposits are thus usually mixed gravels and sands. These sediments are often altered by eolian processes.

Over time, wadi deposits may become "inverted wadis," where former underground water caused vegetation and sediment to fill in the eroded channel, turning previous washes into ridges running through desert regions.

title: Wadi


text:
Emomali Rahmon

Emomali Rahmon (Эмомали Раҳмон; born Emomali Sharipovich Rahmonov, born 5 October 1952) is a Tajik politician who has been serving as the 3rd President of Tajikistan since 16 November 1994. Previously he was the Chairman of the Supreme Assembly of Tajikistan, as the de facto head of state from 20 November 1992 to 16 November 1994 (the post of president was temporarily abolished during this period). Since 18 March 1998, he has also served as the leader of the left-wing People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan, which dominates the Parliament of Tajikistan. On 30 September 1999, he was elected vice-president of the UN General Assembly for a one-year term.

He became widely known in 1992 after the abolition of the post of president in the country, when at the dawn of the civil war (1992–1997) he became Chairman of the Supreme Soviet (Parliament) of Tajikistan as a compromise candidate between communists and neo-communists on the one hand and liberal-democratic, nationalist and Islamist forces (the United Tajik Opposition) on the other.

Five times (in the elections of 1994, 1999, 2006, 2013 and 2020), Rahmon won undemocratic presidential elections; in addition, he extended and reformed his powers based on the results of the national constitutional referendums of 1999 and 2003. Since 25 December 2015, Emomali Rahmon has held the lifetime title of Peshvoyi Millat (Пешвои Миллат), which means “Leader of the Nation”, in full — “Founder of peace and national Unity — Leader of the Nation”. Following the results of the last national constitutional referendum in 2016, amendments were adopted that lifted the restrictions on the number of re-elections to the post of President of Tajikistan and lowered the age limit for those running for the post of president from 35 to 30 years.

Rahmon heads an authoritarian regime in Tajikistan with elements of a cult of personality. Political opponents are repressed, violations of human rights and freedoms are severe, elections are not free and fair, and corruption and nepotism are rampant. Various important government positions are occupied by his family members, such as his 36-year-old son Rustam Emomali, who is the chairman of the country's parliament and the mayor of its capital city, Dushanbe.

Early life
Rahmon was born as Emomali Sharipovich Rakhmonov to Sharif Rahmonov (c. 1912–1992) and Mayram Sharifova (1910–2004), a peasant family in Danghara, Kulob Oblast (present-day Khatlon Region). His father was a Red Army veteran of World War II, being a recipient of the Order of Glory in the 2nd and 3rd degrees. From 1971–74, Rahmon served in the Soviet Union's Pacific Fleet, during which he was stationed in the Primorsky Krai. After completing military service, Rahmon returned to his native village where he worked for some time as an electrician.

As a rising apparatchik in Tajikistan, he became a chairman of the collective state farm of his native Danghara. According to his official biography, Rahmon graduated from the Tajik State National University with a specialist's degree in economics in 1982. After working for several years in the Danghara Sovkhoz, Rahmon was appointed chairman of the sovkhoz in 1987.

Early politics
In 1990, Rahmon was elected a people's deputy to the Supreme Soviet of the Tajik SSR. President Rahmon Nabiyev was forced to resign in the first months of the Civil War in August 1992. Akbarsho Iskandrov, Speaker of the Supreme Soviet, became acting president. Iskandarov resigned in November 1992 in an attempt to end the civil unrest. That same month, the Supreme Soviet met in Khujand for its 16th session and declared Tajikistan a parliamentary republic. Rahmon was then elected by the members of the Supreme Soviet as its chairman—as the Parliamentary republican system adopted by Tajikistan did not provide for a ceremonial president, he was also Head of State—and the head of government. Former Interior Minister Yaqub Salimov later recalled that Rahmon's appointment was made because he was "nondescript", in which other field commanders thought that he could be cast aside "when he had served his purpose."

Presidency
In 1994, a new constitution reestablished the presidency. Rahmon was elected to the post on 6 November 1994 and sworn in ten days later. During the civil war that lasted from 1992 to 1997, Rahmon's rule was opposed by the United Tajik Opposition. As many as 100,000 people died during the war. He survived an assassination attempt on 30 April 1997 in Khujand, as well as two attempted coups in August 1997 and in November 1998. Following constitutional changes, he was reelected on 6 November 1999 to a seven-year term, officially taking 97% of the vote. On 22 June 2003, he won a referendum that would allow him to run for two more consecutive seven-year terms after his term expired in 2006. The opposition alleges that this amendment was hidden in a way that verged upon electoral fraud. Rahmon was reelected to a seven-year term in a controversial election on 6 November 2006, with about 79% of the vote, according to the official results. On 6 November 2013, he was reelected for the second seven-year term in office, with about 84% of the vote, in an election that the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe said lacked "genuine choice and meaningful pluralism". In October 2020, he was once again re-elected as president for a fifth term with a margin of 90.92%, amid allegations of fraud. On 22 May 2016, a nationwide referendum approved a number of changes to the country's constitution. One of the main changes lifted the limit on presidential terms, effectively allowing Rahmon to stay in power for as many terms as he wishes. Other key changes outlawed faith-based political parties, thus finalizing the removal of the outlawed Islamic Revival Party from Tajikistan's politics, and reduced the minimum eligibility age for presidential candidates from 35 to 30, enabling Rahmon's older son, Rustam Emomali, to run for president any time after 2017. In January 2017, Rustam Emomali was appointed Mayor of Dushanbe, a key position, which some analysts see as the next step to the top of the government.

Tajikistan under Rahmon is a neopatrimonial regime, characterized by a high degree of clientelism, corruption, and poor governance. In a diplomatic cable that was leaked in 2010, the U.S. ambassador in Tajikistan, reported that Rahmon and his family control the country's major businesses, including the largest bank. In November 2018, Rahmon launched a hydroelectric station to solve energy problems.

Role in War on Terror
In July 2021, over 1,000 Afghan troops and civilians fled to Tajikistan after the Taliban insurgents took control of many parts of Afghanistan. In response, Rahmon ordered 20,000 reserve servicemen of the country's Ground Forces to be sent to the Afghan–Tajik border.

Cult of personality and powers
In December 2015, a law passed by Tajikistan's parliament gave Rahmon the title "Founder Of Peace and National Unity, Leader of the Nation" (Tajik: Асосгузори сулҳу ваҳдати миллӣ – Пешвои миллат, Asosguzori sulhu vahdati millî – Peshvo‘i millat; Russian: Основатель мира и национального единства – Лидер нации, Osnovatel mira i natsionalnogo yedinstva – Lider natsii). A shorter version of the title, "Leader of the Nation," is used frequently. In addition to granting Rahmon lifelong immunity from prosecution, the law also gave him a number of other lifelong privileges, including veto powers over all major state decisions, the freedom to address the nation and parliament on all matters he deems important, and the privilege of attending all government meetings and parliament sessions.

Religion and convictions
Rahmon is a Sunni Muslim and has frequently stressed his Muslim background even though his administration is engaged in a relentless campaign against public displays of Islamic devotion. His suppression of Islamic expression includes banning beards, attendance at mosque for women and children under 18, hajj for people under 40, studying in Islamic schools outside Tajikistan, the production, import or export of Islamic books without permission (implemented in 2017), using loudspeakers to broadcast the adhan, veils, madrassas, Islamist political parties and Arabic-sounding names (implemented in 2016). Furthermore, mosques are heavily regulated, providing unofficial Islamic teaching can lead to up to 12 years of imprisonment, and an arduous process is required to obtain a permit to establish an Islamic organisation, publish an Islamic book, or go on pilgrimage to Mecca. In January 2016, Rahmon performed an Umrah with a number of his children and senior members of his government. That was Rahmon's fourth pilgrimage to Mecca.

His reply to critics of the election standards of the 2006 Tajikistani presidential elections was: "In Tajikistan, more than 99 percent of those residing here are Muslim. We have a completely different culture. You have to take that into account". During a 2010 Organisation of Islamic Cooperation session in Dushanbe, Rahmon spoke against what he called the misuse of Islam for political ends, claiming that "Terrorism, terrorists, have no nation, no country, no religion... Using the name 'Islamic terrorism' only discredits Islam and dishonors the pure and harmless religion of Islam."

Membership in Hizb ut-Tahrir, a militant Islamic party that aims to overthrow secular governments and unify Muslims under one Islamic state, is illegal and members are subject to arrest and imprisonment.

The Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRP) is a banned Islamist political party and has been designated a terrorist organization since 2015.

In 2017 the government of Tajikistan passed a law requiring people to "stick to traditional national clothes and culture", which has been widely seen as an attempt to prevent women from wearing Islamic clothing, in particular the style of headscarf wrapped under the chin, in contrast to the traditional Tajik headscarf tied behind the head.

Family
He is married to Azizmo Asadullayeva and has nine children. Two of his children, Rustam Emomali and Ozoda Rahmon, are senior officials in his administration, while another, Zarina Rahmon, was appointed deputy head of Orienbank in January 2017. Rustam is widely believed to be his father's successor.

In the summer of 2021, coronavirus ravaged the country, and Emomali Rahmon's sister reportedly died in a hospital of COVID-19 on 20 July. According to local media, her sons physically assaulted the national health minister and a senior doctor.

Name changes
In March 2007, Rahmonov changed his surname to Rahmon, getting rid of the Russian-style "-ov" ending. He also removed the patronymic, Sharipovich, from his name altogether. Rahmon explained that he had done so out of respect for his cultural heritage. Following the move, scores of governments officials, members of parliament, and civil servants around the country removed Russian-style patronymics and "-ov" endings from their surnames. In April 2016, Tajikistan officially banned giving Russian-style patronymics and surnames to newborn children.

Honours and awards

 * Vladimir Putin and Emomali Rahmon (2017-02-27) 1.jpgary Doctorate of Leadership by the Limkokwing University of Creative Technology (LUCT)
 * 🇹🇯 Hero of Tajikistan
 * 🇰🇼 Order of Mubarak the Great
 * 🇺🇦 Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise (2008)
 * 🇱🇻 Order of the Three Stars (2009)
 * 🇺🇦 Order of Merit of Ukraine (2011)
 * 🇦🇿 Heydar Aliyev Order (2012)
 * 🇹🇲 Order of the President of Turkmenistan (2012)
 * 🇷🇸 Order of the Republic of Serbia (2013)
 * 🇷🇺 Order of Alexander Nevsky (2017)
 * 🇰🇿 Order of Parasat (2018)
 * Mark of Honour of Heads of State in Central Asia (2021)
 * 🇷🇺 Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" (2022)
 * Honorary Doctorate in arts by Cairo University
 * 🇰🇿 Order of the Golden Eagle (2023)
 * 🇨🇳 Friendship Medal (2024)

title: Emomali Rahmon