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332 thE sudan handbook

by Nimeiri (1983–4), then went into exile in the UK. After Nimeiri’s

overthrow in 1985 he returned to Khartoum as editor of the independent

Sudan Times, going into exile again after the 1989 NIF coup and editing the

independent monthly Sudan Democratic Gazette. He wrote in support of the

SPLM/A but broke with Garang over the slave redemption programmes

(buying back of southerners abducted by northern militias) in which he

was involved. After the CPA in 2005 he was appointed advisor to Presi-

dent al-Bashir. He leads the South Sudan Democratic Forum, one of the

southern parties in opposition to the SPLM.

Gadalla GubaRa al-Faki (1920–2008). Sudan’s first professional

film-maker and a pioneer of African cinema. Born in Khartoum and

educated at Gordon Memorial College, he was first exposed to film

making while serving in the British Army Signal Corps in North Africa

during the Second World War. After the war, he was employed by the

Anglo-Egyptian government to produce educational documentaries on

Sudan’s agricultural schemes. He later became the Director of the film

section of the Ministry of Information. In 1974 he left government service

and established his own film studio, ‘Gad Studio’, in Khartoum. In 1979 he

made the prize-winning Tajuj, an epic love story set in eastern Sudan and

the first feature film produced in Sudan. In a career spanning over sixty

years, he produced a total of 31 documentaries and four feature films.

Ghazi Salah al-Din Attabani (b. 1951). Prominent politician

in the ruling National Congress Party. Born in Omdurman, he studied

medicine at the University of Khartoum, where he returned to teach

after obtaining a PhD in Clinical Biochemistry from the University of

Surrey, UK. A long-time member of the Islamist movement, he has held

numerous official positions since the Islamist military coup in 1989,

including Minister of Culture and Information, Secretary-General of the

National Assembly, and leader of the Government of Sudan negotiating

team at Machakos. In February 2010 he signed the short-lived prelimi-

nary framework agreement in Ndjamena, Chad, with the Justice and

The Sudan Handbook, edited by John Ryle, Justin Willis, Suliman Baldo and Jok Madut Jok. © 2011 Rift Valley Institute and contributors Equality Movement, the largest rebel group in Darfur.

(www.riftvalley.net).