Today, Dr. Ibrahim Ahmed Omer, the Speaker of the Sudan National Assembly, will arrive with a delegation in Washington, DC from Khartoum for a thirteen day visit to lobby Congress and other government officials to permanently lift all U.S. sanctions on Sudan. Before President Obama left office, he surprisingly lifted some sanctions for a six-month period after which the sanctions could be reinstated or lifted permanently depending on the discretion of the new Secretary of State. Sudanese and human rights activists were shocked by President Obama’s decision, given the ongoing crimes of a government whose leader, President Bashir, is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
It is not clear what position the Trump Administration will take on Sudan sanctions or addressing the suffering of the people of Sudan and their struggle for freedom, democracy, justice and peace, but Trump did include Sudan in the Executive Order that banned refugees from seven countries from entering the United States in order, as he stated at the February 18th rally in Florida, “to keep radical Islamic terrorists the hell out of our country.” While most Sudanese are not radical Islamic terrorists, there are those who rule the country or who are closely aligned with the regime that fit the description.
One example of a Sudanese radical Islamic terrorist is Dr. Ibrahim Ahmed Omer, who is legally entering the United States today with a visa issued by the U.S. State Department. Sudanese provided the following biography of Dr. Omer:
Dr. Ibrahim Ahmed Omer, 78 years old, was part of the military coup and is a member and leader of the National Congress Party (NCP) that toppled the democratically elected government of Sudan in 1989. He became the Minister of Higher Education in 1990-96 and 1997-2000, the Secretary General of the NCP from 2000-05, Advisor to the President from 2010-11, a permanent member of Parliament/National Assembly since 1986, and currently, he is the Speaker of the National Assembly since 2015.
Dr. Omer graduated from the University of Khartoum, where it is known he killed a fellow student, and later graduated with a PhD from Cambridge.
As the Minister of Higher Education, he instituted the Islamization of higher education and required university students to study a radical version of Islam in order to graduate. He is a strong defender of “Islamic Rooting” of all aspects of life in Sudan, and his writings are considered a blueprint for institutionalized radicalization in Sudan.
From the beginning, Dr. Omer is responsible for legalizing all policies of the Islamists and the terrorist actions of the Sudanese regime, including hosting Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda and the assassination attempt of former Egyptian President Mubarak.
In addition, Dr. Omer is responsible for keeping the concealed and secret funds and accounts of the Islamic movement in Sudan, which was exposed when his late son passed away with over 25 million USD and his wife refused to return the funds to the party.
Last Friday, members of the Sudanese Diaspora in Washington, DC, sent the following letter to warn Members of Congress regarding Dr. Omer’s impending visit:
Dear Members of Congress,
We, the concerned Sudanese Americans in the Diaspora, respectfully request your support of the people of Sudan at this critical time. An enemy of the Sudanese people, Ibrahim Ahmed Omer, Speaker of the Sudan National Assembly, has received a visa for a visit to the United States from February 20, 2017 to March 4, 2017. The purpose of his visit is to lobby Congress and other officials to lift the remaining U.S. sanctions permanently. Please do not meet with him or his delegation.
Mr. Omer is an ideologue of the Muslim Brotherhood and a long-time member of the National Congress Party (NCP), which is responsible for the death, injury and displacement of millions of Sudanese under the leadership of an internationally indicted criminal. Mr. Omer has personally overseen the passage of repressive legislation that has eroded the basic human rights and the civil rights of the Sudanese in addition to entrenching policies that destroy and marginalize the country’s institutions and more importantly, its citizens.
During Mr. Omer’s tenure as the Minister of Higher Education (1990-96 and 1997-2000), he devised and oversaw the policy of forced conscription of Sudanese high school students in what was called the Popular Defense Forces. High school graduates were not allowed to enroll in college in Sudan or abroad without first completing training camps of indoctrination and military training. Some of these students became suicide bombers, known as tank busters, during the civil war in southern Sudan.
In addition, Mr. Omer converted the Africa International University into a training ground of African Muslim jihadists, some of which later became the leaders of Al-Shabab in Somalia and Boko Haram in the Sahel. All along, he has been a senior person in the Shora "advisory" Council of the Sudanese Islamic Movement, a cell of the international Muslim Brotherhood.
Mr. Omer and his colleagues in the NCP have launched a massive campaign that targets the U.S. and European Embassies for the purpose of normalizing relations, lifting sanctions and ensuring their ruthless grip on power. Please do not fall for their tactics, but instead, please send the important message that you are standing with the people of Sudan, not the perpetrators of genocide and mass atrocities and the proponents of terrorism worldwide. The United States has made it very clear what the government of Sudan must do to normalize relations. Please do not move the goal posts or lower the bar.
The United States Congress is the symbol of democracy around the world and while the crisis in Sudan is largely overshadowed by other world events, the people of Sudan sincerely appreciate the decades-long commitment by Congress to help Sudanese in need and to support our struggle to find a just and sustainable peace. At this critical time, we would be especially grateful for your continued support.
Respectfully yours,
Concerned Sudanese Americans in the Washington Area
Sudanese have long counted on the United States to serve as a place of safety and refuge, away from the death and destruction imposed upon them by Dr. Omer, indicted President Bashir and the other leaders of the NCP. The Obama Administration’s policy of rapprochement that has welcomed visits of the NCP to the U.S. while chastising and closing the door to the U.S. for Sudanese opposition, the traditional values-aligned allies of the U.S., has created much concern among Sudanese who live in constant fear and danger and experience extreme poverty and hardship. The Sudanese should not be the only ones concerned. Ideologues such as Dr. Omer who institutionalize radical Islam are foundational to the proliferation of terrorism. Dr. Omer is a known threat to the people of Sudan and an immediate threat to international peace and security. Dr. Omer is in Washington. Beware.