Colonel General
Colonel general is a three- or four-star military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, and was a ra ...
Ismat Abdel Rahman Zine al-Abedin is a retired
Sudanese Army
The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF; ar, القوات المسلحة السودانية, Al-Quwwat al-Musallaha as-Sudaniyah) are the military forces of the Republic of the Sudan. In 2011, IISS estimated the regular forces' numbers at personnel, whi ...
officer who previously served as Chief of Staff of the
Sudanese Armed Forces
The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF; ar, القوات المسلحة السودانية, Al-Quwwat al-Musallaha as-Sudaniyah) are the military forces of the Republic of the Sudan. In 2011, IISS estimated the regular forces' numbers at personnel, whil ...
.
Career
AbdelRahman served as Chief of Staff during the
Sudan – South Sudan Border War
The Heglig Crisis was a brief war fought between the countries of Sudan and South Sudan in 2012 over oil-rich regions between South Sudan's Unity and Sudan's South Kordofan states. South Sudan invaded and briefly occupied the small border town ...
, and threatened to punish South Sudan for damaging oil infrastructure in Heglig.
It was reported by unnamed sources to the Sudan Tribune that Rahman narrowly escaped death in May 2013 when his convoy came under attack by the
Justice and Equality Movement
The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM; ar, حركة العدل والمساواة, ') is an opposition group in Sudan founded by Khalil Ibrahim. Gibril Ibrahim has led the group since January 2012 after the death of Khalil, his brother, in ...
in
South Kordofan
South Kordofan ( ar, جنوب كردفان ') is one of the 18 wilayat or states of Sudan. It has an area of 158,355 km² and an estimated population of approximately 1,100,000 people (2000).al-Sawarmi Khalid Sa’ad announced Rahmans retirement on 20 June 2013, claiming he had reached retirement age.
Abdel-Rahman handed over control of the Armed Forces to Lt. Gen. Mustafa Osman Obeid Salim at a handover ceremony on 25 June 2013. The changeover followed an attempted coup in November 2012, and also several military setbacks in the Sudan internal conflict, particularly in
North Kordofan
North Kordofan ( ar, شمال كردفان, Šamāl Kurdufān) is one of the 18 wilayat or states of Sudan. It has an area of 185,302 km2 and an estimated population of 2,920,890 (2008 census) (3,340,000 (2011 estimate)). El-Obeid is the ...