Machar describes late Turabi a ‘great thinker’
March 5, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – South Sudanese first vice president designate, Riek Machar, said the people of the two Sudan have lost a “great thinker” and renowned political leader in the history of Sudan.
Turabi, a chief Islamic ideologue, died on Saturday in the national capital, Khartoum, at the age of 84.
“We have heard with great sadness the news of the passing on of El Sheikh Dr. Hassen Abdellah El Turabi this afternoon over the international media, El Gezira. May God rest his soul in eternal peace. Sheikh Turabi was a great Islamic scholar and a renowned political leader,” said the South Sudanese armed opposition leader, Machar, in a statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Saturday.
“The two Sudan are fortunate to have had this great man as one of their leaders. His leadership was exemplary and his works contributed to bringing about peace and stability in both countries. He supported the quest of the people of South Sudan for right of self-determination. He will be greatly missed,” he said.
“Please accept, on behalf of the SPLM/SPLA (IO) and South Sudanese people our deepest condolences to your Excellency, the people of the Republic of Sudan and especially to the family of Sheikh Turabi for this loss. We join your Excellency, the family of Sheikh Turabi and the people of Sudan in mourning this great thinker.”
Machar also dispatched a high level delegation of the SPLM-IO to Khartoum to participate in the burial of late Turabi. The team led by the SPLM-IO’s secretary general, Dhieu Mathokk Diing Wol, includes Dak Duop Bichiok, representative to Sudan as well as Murtada Jalaladin and Bol Gatkuoth Chuol Kol.
The South Sudanese opposition leader in 1997 signed a peace agreement with President Omer Hassan Al Bashir, duped as the Khartoum Peace Agreement (KPA), when Turabi was the speaker of parliament. The peace deal was the first in the history of the Sudan to be signed between north and south Sudan based on the right of self-determination for the people of South Sudan, and with a referendum to be conducted for a vote on unity of the country or independence of South Sudan.
Turabi was born in 1932 in Kassala, eastern Sudan. He received an Islamic education before coming to Khartoum in 1951 to study law and joined the Muslim Brotherhood as a student.
He graduated from Khartoum University School of Law and also studied in London and at the Sorbonne in Paris, where he gained a doctorate. He became a leader of the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood in the early 1960s.
Turabi, who is fluent in English, French, is generally considered to be the mastermind of the 1989 coup by Islamist army officers that brought President Bashir to power.
He played a crucial role in designing the new government’s Islamic policies, was elected speaker of the National Assembly in 1996 and in 1998, was elected secretary-general of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP).
However, in 1999, he was ousted from these positions over differences with President Bashir and his followers. He and his supporters subsequently founded the PCP.
Turabi had been in the opposition ever since. He was also jailed by Bashir’s government on a number of occasions.
(ST)