The Sudan Handbook

kEy fiGuREs in sudanEsE histoRy, CultuRE & PolitiCs 337

Khalil IbRahim MohamEd. Chairman of the Justice and Equality

Movement (JEM). A Kobe Zaghawa from western Darfur, as a member

of the National Islamic Front, he held a number of regional government

posts including Minister of Health and Minister of Education, before

breaking away from the government in the late 1990s after the split

between Hassan al-Turabi and Omar al-Bashir.

Lam Akol AJaWin (b.1950). Politician. Before joining the SPLM/A in

1986, a lecturer in chemical engineering at the University of Khartoum.

In 1991, together with Riek Machar, he formed a rival SPLA faction to

John Garang, whom they had unsuccessfully attempted to overthrow. In

1994 he split from Riek Machar and formed his own SPLA–United faction

based in Tonga, Upper Nile. In 2003 he rejoined the SPLA in the south.

After the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement he served as the Minister

of Foreign Affairs in the Government of National Unity for two years.

In June 2009, he launched his own political party, SPLM for Democratic

Change, criticizing the SPLM for its poor democratic credentials. He is

widely seen as being close to the ruling National Congress Party.

MahJoub MohamEd Salih (b.1928). Journalist. Together with

Mahjoub Osman and Bashir Mohamed Saeed he founded al-Ayaam,

Sudan’s oldest independent daily newspaper, in 1953. Closed twice by

Abboud’s military government in the 1960s, and nationalized by Nimeiri’s

military regime in 1970, it was returned to its owners in 1986. The paper

was again shut down by the government from 1989 to 1999, re-opening

in 2000. Mahjoub Mohamed Salih gained prominence with his shrewd

observations of developments in southern Sudan. He was awarded the

2005 Golden Pen International journalism award in recognition of his

contribution to the defence and promotion of press freedom. He writes

the daily column ‘Aswat wa Asdaa’ (Voices and Echoes) in al-Ayaam.

Mahmud MohamEd Taha (c.1909–1985). Religious and political

leader. Born to a farming family in Rufaa, two hundred miles south of

The Sudan Handbook, edited by John Ryle, Justin Willis, Suliman Baldo and Jok Madut Jok. © 2011 Rift Valley Institute and contributors Khartoum, he studied engineering at Gordon Memorial College and

(www.riftvalley.net).