Muhammad Ahmad Mahgoub (; 17 May 1908 – 23 June 1976) was a Sudanese politician who served as the

Foreign Minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

and the 5th

Prime Minister of Sudan This article lists the heads of government of Sudan, from the establishment of the office of Chief Minister in 1952 until the present day. The office of prime minister was abolished after the 1989 coup d'état, and reestablished in 2017 as ...

. He was also a prolific literary writer, who published several volumes of

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

and literary criticism in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

. He was born in the city of

Ed Dueim Ed Dueim (Arabic الدويم, also Romanized as ''ad-Duwaym'', ''Ad Douiem'', ''Al Dewaym'', ''Dewaim'' etc.) is one of the largest cities along the White Nile in Sudan. Ed Dueim is on the west bank of the White Nile, between Khartoum and Kost ...

in 1908. He moved to

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 ...

at the age of seven. Mahgoub graduated from engineering school in 1929 and in 1938, he obtained a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

degree from the

Gordon Memorial College Gordon Memorial College was an educational institution in Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. It was built between 1899 and 1902 as part of Lord Kitchener's wide-ranging educational reforms. Named for General Charles George Gordon of the British army, who wa ...

. He was elected to parliament in 1946. After independence, Mahgoub was foreign minister between 1956 and 1958, and then again between 1964 and 1965. In 1965, he was elected

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

, but was subsequently forced to resign. In 1967, he was elected Prime Minister for the second time and served in that position until the 1969 coup d'état. The 1965 Mahgoub's government had two goals: progress toward solving the southern problem and the removal of

communists Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, d ...

from positions of power. The army launched a major offensive to crush the rebellion and in the process augmented its reputation for brutality among the southerners. Many southerners reported government atrocities against civilians, especially at

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 ...

and

Wau Wau may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Papua New Guinea * Wau, Papua New Guinea * Wau Airport (Papua New Guinea) * Wau Rural LLG, (local level government) South Sudan * Wau State, South Sudan * Wau, South Sudan, city * Wau railway s ...

. Sudanese army troops also burned churches and huts, closed schools, destroyed crops and looted cattle. Mahgoub's war policy in

South Sudan South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...

was characterized by extreme brutality and the indiscriminate use of terror, reaching levels of violence never before experienced in the south. His campaigns, which included massacres against southern civilians and looting that destroyed entire towns, have been described by some scholars as genocidal and have been compared to the methods of

Alphonse de Malzac Louis Isaac Alphonse de Malzac (22 June 1822 – April 1860) was a French diplomat turned slave trader and hunter. He is notably associated with his activities in Gondokoro, present-day South Sudan, where he died. Biography Born in Sauve, Gard, ...

, a 19th-century European White Nile slave-raider.

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