Khalil Ibrahim (; 1957 – 22 or 24 December 2011) was a

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

ese insurgent leader who was the founder of the

Justice and Equality Movement The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM; , ') 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 December 2011. The JEM supported the removal ...

(JEM) which he led until his death. In the 1990s Ibrahim served in several state governments of Sudan.

Early life

Ibrahim was born in Sudan in 1957. Ibrahim was from the Koba branch of the Zaghawa ethnic group, which is located mainly in

, with a minority on the Chad side of the border. He was an enthusiastic supporter of the

National Islamic Front The National Islamic Front (NIF; ; transliterated: ''al-Jabhah al-Islamiyah al-Qawmiyah'') was an Islamist political organization founded in 1976 and led by Dr. Hassan al-Turabi that influenced the Sudanese government starting in 1979, and d ...

(NIF) seizure of power under the direction of Islamist Hassan al-Turabi in 1989.

Political career

Ibrahim served as the state minister for education in Darfur between 1991 and 1994 in al-Fashir,

North Darfur North Darfur State ( Wilāyat Šamāl Dārfūr; ''Shamal Darfor'') is one of the wilayat or states of Sudan. It is one of the five states composing the Darfur region. It has an area of 296,420 km2 and an estimated population of approximat ...

. A physician, Ibrahim spent four months in 1992 to fight Sudan People's Armed Forces. By Ibrahim's own account, he was disaffected with the Islamist movement by 2000 after seeing the economic neglect of the NIF, as well as its support to armed militias. At this time, he became part of a

covert cell A clandestine cell system is a method for organizing a group of people, such as resistance fighters, spies, mercenaries, organized crime members, or terrorists, to make it harder for police, military or other hostile groups to catch them. In ...

of Islamists who were seeking to change the NIF from inside. Ibrahim went on to serve as the state minister for social affairs in

Blue Nile The Blue Nile is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. It travels for approximately through Ethiopia and Sudan. Along with the White Nile, it is one of the two major Tributary, tributaries of the Nile and supplies about 85.6% of the wa ...

in 1997 before a post as adviser to the governor of Southern Sudan in

Juba Juba is the capital and largest city of South Sudan. The city is situated on the White Nile and also serves as the capital of the Central Equatoria, Central Equatoria State. It is the most recently declared national capital and had a populatio ...

in 1998. However, others noted that he never received a national level appointment. Ibrahim's colleague in JEM, Ahmad Tugod, stated, "Khalil is not a first or even second class political leader. ..He struggled all of his life to get a post in

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum is the capital city of Sudan as well as Khartoum State. With an estimated population of 7.1 million people, Greater Khartoum is the largest urban area in Sudan. Khartoum is located at the confluence of the White Nile – flo ...

."Flint, Julie and Alex de Waal, ''Darfur: A Short History of a Long War'', Zed Books, London March 2006; , p. 91 He quit the post in August 1998, several months before the end of his appointment, and formed an NGO called "Fighting Poverty". In December 1999, when al-Bashir sidelined al-Turabi with the help of Ali Osman Taha, Ibrahim was in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, studying for a master's degree in public health at

Universiteit Maastricht Maastricht University (abbreviated as UM; ) is a public research university in Maastricht, Netherlands. Founded in 1976, it is the second youngest of the thirteen Dutch universities. In 2023, 22,976 students studied at Maastricht University, 59% ...

. In the meantime, the structure of covert cells that Ibrahim had helped set up in 1994 had spread to Khartoum. The dissidents, dubbing themselves "The Seekers of Truth and Justice" published the '' Black Book'' in 2000, claiming Riverine Arabs dominated political power and resources. In 2001, Ibrahim was one of twenty people sent out of the country by the dissidents to go public. In August 2001, Ibrahim published a press release from the

, in which he announced the formation of the

. The JEM has a relatively small ethnic base of support, limited to the Kobe Zaghawa, including many kinsmen from across the Chadian border.

Darfur conflict

On 5 March 2002, Ibrahim claimed credit for initiating a government revolt. This apparent claim of the landmark attack on Golo, actually carried out by the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), was mocked by the SLA and the JEM was forced to back away from their announcement. Regardless, the JEM and the anti-government SLA formed a loose alliance in prosecuting the Darfur conflict. In May 2006, the JEM rejected the Abuja peace process, which was accepted by the faction of the SLA led by

Minni Minnawi Suliman Arcua Minnawi (; born 12 December 1968), also known as "Minni Minnawi" (), is a Sudanese politician and the leader of a faction of the Sudanese Liberation Army. A former educator, Minnawi served as secretary to Sudan Liberation Army lead ...

, but rejected by the smaller SLA factions. On 30 June 2006, Ibrahim, Khamis Abdalla, the leader of an SLM faction, Sharif Harir and Ahmed Ibrahim, co-leaders of the National Democratic Alliance (Sudan), founded the National Redemption Front rebel group in

Asmara Asmara ( ), or Asmera (), is the capital and most populous city of Eritrea, in the country's Central Region (Eritrea), Central Region. It sits at an elevation of , making it the List of capital cities by altitude, sixth highest capital in the wo ...

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

but which is based in

Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...

. Ibrahim lived in exile in

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

from May 2010 to September 2011, when the Libyan civil war compelled him to flee across the

Sahara The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...

and return to

Darfur Darfur ( ; ) is a region of western Sudan. ''Dār'' is an Arabic word meaning "home f – the region was named Dardaju () while ruled by the Daju, who migrated from Meroë , and it was renamed Dartunjur () when the Tunjur ruled the area. ...

. The

ese government and diplomatic sources accused Ibrahim's group of rebels in Libya of fighting as mercenaries for Libyan strongman

Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (20 October 2011) was a Libyan military officer, revolutionary, politician and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until Killing of Muammar Gaddafi, his assassination by Libyan Anti-Gaddafi ...

during the war, charges to which Ibrahim never responded, neither being proved.

Death

Ibrahim died either on 22 December 2011 after an air strike by the Sudanese armed forces or on 24 December 2011, two days after being injured in fighting in North Kordofan, west of Wad Banda.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ibrahim, Khalil 1957 births 2011 deaths Deaths by Sudanese airstrikes People from Darfur People of the War in Darfur Sudanese Islamists Sudanese physicians 20th-century Sudanese politicians Zaghawa people 21st-century Sudanese politicians Maastricht University alumni