Embattled Sudan president promoted to field marshal

KHARTOUM, Aug 14 (AFP) — Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Beshir, whose armed forces’ actions have sparked a torrent of international criticism of his regime, has been made a field marshal, a top aide said Saturday.

The promotion from the rank of lieutenant general was at the recommendation of the Sudanese parliament and the general command of the People’s Armed Forces, Presidential Affairs Minister Tayib Ibrahim Mohammed Kheir said.

It coincided with official celebrations across the country to mark the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Sudanese armed forces, shortly before independence from Britain.

Beshir was a mere brigadier when he seized power in a bloodless Islamist-backed coup in 1989, toppling the elected government of prime minister Sadiq al-Mahdi.

Saturday’s commemorations were attended by Egyptian Defence Minister Hussein Tantawi, himself a field marshal.

The anniversary came with the Sudanese armed forces still facing a waning civil war in the south and armed conflicts with ethnic minority rebels in both the east and the west.

The army’s sponsoring of Arab militias accused of a reign of terror in the western region of Darfur prompted the UN Security Council to threaten Beshir’s regime with unspecified “measures” if it fails to disarm the militias by August 29.