General Abdul Majid Hamid Khalil (, 1935–2021) was a Sudanese soldier and politician.

Biography

Khalil was born on 1 January in 1935 in

El-Obeid El-Obeid (, ''al-ʾAbyaḍ'', lit."the White"), also romanized as Al-Ubayyid, is the capital of the state of North Kordofan, in Sudan. History and overview El-Obeid was founded by the pashas of Ottoman Egypt in 1821. It was attacked by the ...

. He was educated at the Military College of Sudan. He became the commander of

Port Sudan Port Sudan (, Beja: ) is a port city on the Red Sea in eastern Sudan, and the capital of Red Sea State. Port Sudan is Sudan's main seaport and the source of 90% of the country's international trade. The population of Port Sudan was estimated in ...

military zone. During the Nimeiry era, Khalil was First Vice President, a general of the army,

Minister of Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and secretary general of the

Sudanese Socialist Union The Sudanese Socialist Union (Abbreviation, abbr. SSU; ''Al-Ittihad Al-Ishtiraki As-Sudaniy'') was a political party in Democratic Republic of the Sudan, Sudan. The SSU was the country's One-party state, sole legal party from 1971 until 1985, w ...

., and regarded as the Nimeiry's heir apparent. He was appointed

from 28 May 1979 to 25 January 1982. He was First Vice President of

Gaafar Nimeiry Gaafar Muhammad an-Nimeiry (otherwise spelled in English as Gaafar Nimeiry, Jaafar Nimeiry, or Ja'far Muhammad Numayri; ; 1 January 193030 May 2009) was a Sudanese military officer and politician who served as the fourth president of Sudan, hea ...

from June 1979 to 25 January 1982. Nimeiry forced him to retire on 25 January 1982, and reportedly put him under house arrest. After Nimeiry was ousted, during the civilian government of Prime Minister

Sadiq al-Mahdi Sadiq al-Mahdi (; 25 December 1935 – 26 November 2020), also known as Sadiq as-Siddiq, was a Sudanese political and religious figure who was Prime Minister of Sudan from 1966 to 1967 and again from 1986 to 1989. He was head of the National Um ...

, Khalil was again appointed

from 15 May 1988 to February 1989. He resigned to protest the civilian government's procrastination. His resignation was a key event in the government's collapse. He was a supporter of Addis Abeba Peace Agreement to resolve the civil war in Southern Sudan, even though his plane was hit by a rebel

SAM-7 The 9K32 Strela-2 (; NATO reporting name SA-7 Grail) is a light-weight, shoulder-fired, surface-to-air missile or MANPADS system. It is designed to target aircraft at low altitudes with passive infrared-homing guidance and destroy them with a ...

ground-to-air missile in November 1988. Despite his links with Nimeiry, he was widely respected as a person not tainted by the Nimeiry-era corruption. He died in April 2021 due to an illness.

References

1935 births 2021 deaths Vice presidents of Sudan Defense ministers of Sudan Sudanese military personnel Sudanese Military College alumni Sudanese Socialist Union politicians Sudanese generals {{Sudan-politician-stub