Ahmed Ibrahim Dreij is an open history book for readers during his lifetime and during his journey to the afterlife into the depths of God’s mercy
أحمدابراهيمدريجكتابتاريخمفتوحللقراءفيحياتهوأثناءرحلتهإلىالآخرةفيأعماقرحمةالله
Ahmed Ibrahim Dreij is an Open History Book for Readers, Whether He Were Alive or Deceased in the Grace of God
أحمدإبراهيم دريجكتابتاريخ مفتوحللقراءسواءأكانحياًأومتوفيافىرحاباللهً
Authored by Mahmoud A. Suleiman
Dear noble reader, this article comes out of the habit, against the backdrop of the saddening news of passing away and paying prayer to the spirit of the late Mr. Ahmed Ibrahim Dreij, who answered the call of his Lord Allah, may God Almighty accept his spirit in the gardens of eternity in the Paradise with the prophets, the martyrs and the righteous. Mr. Ahmed Ibrahim Dreij has died in the country ofBatswana, Southern Africa, departing this mortal world, leaving behind a rich political and societal history about the rule in Sudan in general and the Darfur region in particular. The talk about Ahmed Ibrahim Dreij is considered an open book to read on the most important stations in the political and social history of Sudan.This isbecause Dreij is considered a witness to the most important political era issues in the history of the Post-independence of Sudan from the Anglo-EgyptianColonialism -aka – Condominium on Sunday January the First 1956.
The honorable reader, is requested to note that my article this time, not as usual, includes quotes from mourning letters from those who knew the late Dreij and his contemporaries who wrote about him and about his merits as a distinguished politician and statesman. Furthermore, it is more or less in a form of a compilation of articles and condolences written about the statesman Ustaz AHMED IBRAHIM DIRAIG,May Allah have mercy on him and May God bless himandoffer condolence to his family and bless his offsprings.This article, as I said earlier, comes in a sad atmosphere, following the transfer of the late Diraig, , Ahmed Ibrahim Dreij to the hereafter with his predecessors from the righteous, martyrs and prophets; thus one has enabled himself to collect quotes from the condolences written by individuals and groups that previously worked with the late Dreij in Various sites during his life of political and social events in the Darfur region and throughout Sudan and in the countries of the world around us and I have compiled those documents and made them as part and parcel of the article.
As for my personal acquaintance with the late Ustaz Ahmed Ibrahim Dreij, the conversation will be prolonged, and the volume of the article will not accommodate that. I am satisfied that I have known him since I was a student at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Khartoum in the 1960s. Furthermore, I have met with him at several occasions related to the Sudanese politics in general and the Darfur region in particular. I met him last time about 6 years ago, that is before he left his London home to Botswana, the country in Southern Africa. At this juncture, one says: “Verily we belong to Allah, and truly to Him shall we return”.
Let us now browse what preceded writings about Draig’s personal biography in the history of his political life as one of the symbols of rulers and leaders in Sudan. A lot has been written about him since his saddening death. We will leaf through the press and we will be reading the following out a plethora of neverending articles:
• Ahmed Ibrahim Dreij Karzai of Darfur
• Sudan News Network SNN
• 28 December 2014 ·
• The name Ahmed Ibrahim Dreij/Diraig remained linked to the politicians ’disagreements with former President Jaafar Nimeiri, and his relationship with the Republican Palace since his assumption of the position of Governor of the Darfur region in 1982 CE has been marked by the constant tension that culminated in the confiscation of his property by the May regime and his finally exodus from Sudan to his self-imposed exile in London.. We are trying to shed light on his political life and the path of his successes and failures on the path of politics.
Ibrahim Ahmed Ibrahim did not know that the name of the English inspector “Dreij” in the Garsila region, which he admired so much as a nickname for his son “Ahmed” for his light color compared to his peers, that this would obliterate his father’s name. It also did not know that Ahmed, who was born in the village of Kargula, in the countryside of Zalingei District i.e. the state of West Darfur in 1935 AD, he will have an effective political role in Darfur, and his personality is known worldwide, as well as being associated with Germany.
Ahmed Ibrahim Dreij received his first/primary/elementary education in the Zalingei District in the Central district of the then Darfur Province in the countryside. He then moved to the city of Duwaim in the White Nile State, because there were no middle/ intermediate schools at that time in the Province of Darfur. His professional specialty is in Statistics. Before joining the University of Khartoum, he worked as a teacher for a short period at El Fasher National School.
During his studies at the university, he practiced his activities as an independent and did not have a clear political activity at the university, but he was gifted with jogging and high jumping that he has practiced so far.
It was not long before him as an independent member until he announced his joining the Umma Party, the wing of the Sadiq al-Mahdi, and he was appointed as a central minister to work in the 1967 government, then he became the leader of the opposition in the Second Constituent Assembly (1968). Observers say that his accession and his tenure buried the Darfur Renaissance Front alive and it is a child similar, which led to The people of Darfur, especially the intellectuals who supported him and appointed him president of the front at the university, are accused of aborting the first collective action of the people of Darfur, where Ali Hassan Taj al-Din joined the Umma Party and Ali al-Hajj remained in the Islamic movement and Muhammad Abdel Manan belonged to the Islamic Charter Front. Diraig was accused of giving up his responsibilities after Nimeiri’s coup and fled the country to preoccupy himself with his private work, even though he is a public figure whose historical responsibilities prevent him from leaving the country, especially since May was besieging the supporters and in front of them on the Jezira Aba, in the White Nile District.
He is a member of the Umma Party and the leader of the opposition, which made the supporters and people of Darfur feel bitter from this behavior, which many described as irresponsible.
After the national reconciliation in 1977 AD between Al-Nimeiri and Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi, a political breakthrough occurred, and Al-Nimeiri issued decisions to appoint governors, among them was the Brigadier General “retired” Al-Tayeb Al-Mardi. The decision to appoint him sparked an uprising in Darfur, considering that he was from outside of the Darfur region, given the fact that all the other regions in Sudan enjoyed appointment of Governors from their own sons and during the Darfurian uprising “seven” sons of Darfur were killed during the riots, the fact which prompted Nimeiri to acquiesce. Dreij was appointed as the Governor of Darfur as the first of the sons of Darfur, and Dreij found a rally around him from the people of the region and supported him unanimously, and this was evident in the great and massive reception he received at El Fasher airport. However, accusations were leveled against Dreij that he did not exploit this consensus and influence in uniting the people of Darfur. On the contrary, during his tenure in office, he caused many tribal problems due to his misjudgment of things and his irresponsible statements against some tribes.
Dreij is considered one of the most enthusiastic supporters of the Daoud Bolad movement, who defected from the rescue and led a rebellion in the early nineties in Darfur. It is said that Bolad consulted Dreij and found support and support for the idea from its early stages until it reached advanced stages.
In 1995, Dreij traveled to Asmara to join the ranks of the National Democratic Gathering opposed to the Islamist/ Muslim Brotherhood’s Islamic Salvation Front Government, and participated in the gathering conference in the name of the Federal Alliance, the party that was abroad with a number of opponents (Muhammad Ibrahim Khalil, Sherif Abdullah Harir and others. ”
Dreij participated in armed action against Islamic Salvation Front regime from Eritrean lands, and upon the outbreak of armed action in the west of the country, Dreij refused to integrate his forces and unify leadership and said that he “does not want to conclude his political life with military action.”
Dreij’s opponents say that his influence at the time was running out, evidenced by the fact that most of his bases and supporters have preferred to join the two rebel movements in Darfur,
Karzai, Darfur
Dreij’s opponents, especially in the two Darfur rebel movements, called him “Karzai Darfur” and expressed their surprise at his sudden appearance and his meeting with the First Vice President of the Republic, Mr. Ali Osman Muhammad Taha in Naivasha at the beginning of this year .. They denounced his statements in support of a peaceful solution to the Darfur problem and see that there is a contradiction with what was. It is practiced from military action against the government in the east of the country. They also accuse him of receiving American and German support for installing “Karzai over Darfur.” The rebels in Darfur consider that Dreij’s political role has ended, time has passed, and that the way of thinking in Darfur has become ahead of the old arguments .. which he himself adopted.
Shartay and Statistics
Professor Abd al-Rahman Bishara Dosa, Professor of Microbiology at the University of Ahfad, a former Minister of Agriculture in the Dreij government, says that Dreij entered political life out of his interest in social reforms in Sudanese society and this helped his association with the civil administration, especially that he belonged to a family of civil administration, and the mother of Shartay died when he was in High school, so he was chosen to be a buyer for his region, but he apologized under the pretext of continuing his studies and relinquished the position to his uncle.
Professor Dosa Draij describes him as a social activist and has developed his interest in the problems of his community from a social activist to a political one.
And d adds. Adam Al-Zein, Director of the Federal Governance Studies Center of the University of Khartoum, Dreij benefited from his previous work in the Department of Statistics in using statistics to clarify what the relative backwardness of the Darfur region means in comparison to other regions when he was addressing the people of Darfur in the University of Khartoum Union House, which was crowded with the people of Darfur with their various tribes. He was dealing with the figures, the percentages due to Darfur in the fields of health, education and infrastructure services.
Professor Abdullah Adam Khater, a well-known journalist and writer, adds: Draij is among the new leaders who emerged after the October Revolution with theses such as William Deng, who focused on the constitutional aspect that calls for federalism, while Philip Abbas Gabboosh called for the cultural specificity of the Nuba Mountains. The regions and their economic development, which invited him to adopt the idea of the Sudanese Democratic Alliance, and Professor Khater considers this a success for Dreij as a political intellectual.
Political fouls
Professor Dosa believes that Dreij is distinguished by commitment to honorable political ethics and does not like “political fouls ” and considers him chaste in hand, in addition to his wise leadership as the leader of the opposition in Parliament, in addition to his struggle to save Darfur from famine in 1983 AD by confronting the Nimeiri government with facts while it tried to cover Situations there.
Engineer Abdullah Masar, Wali of the Nile River, considers Dreij as one of the people who had positions in the Sudanese political movement in addition to being a convinced man and polite in the conversation, and he continues Masar to say that Dreij was very popular in Darfur and entered politics without a family background, as he is a normal citizen.
Dr. says. Al-Zein. Dreij suffered from two main problems, namely the emergence of ethno-ethnic politics in the region and what is known as the current of the Arab group and the Zaghawa group and the Islamic movement group led by Dr. Ali Hajj Muhammad Adam and the conflict intensified in 1982 AD between these groups in the elections for the position of governor and the Zaghawa group gathered behind its candidate Mahmoud Bashir Jamaa and the Arab group aligned Behind its candidate, the late Ibrahim Omar, and another Arab group stood behind Youssef Suleiman Takana and Dr. Abdul Hamid Al-Tijani is independent and is considered d. Al-Zein said his troubles increased after his victory.
And Dr.. Al-Zein said that among the flaws of Dreij is that he lacks the ability to win the cooperation of the educated elite despite his strong personal connections with them outside of work. Al-Zein said that the man suffers from a problem in dealing with the elite who excels him in education, and this is evidenced by the candidacy of most of his government members in the 1982 elections against him.
Professor Dosa says that the disadvantages of Dreij are that he does not like to read reports and cannot stand sitting in long meetings and does not take notes during them, which makes him vulnerable to forgetting some of the decisions that need follow-up and believes that his failure to return to Sudan is a disgrace.
In addition to being non-violent, it tends to seek solutions through democracy.
Professor Khater believes in Direj that he is a friendly, fatherly man who loves the citizen and the simple life and believes that his genius is manifested when he reaches the simplest human being the most complex economic theories and has the ability to promote his ideas through public relations theories.
Dr. says. Al-Zein said that Dreij has a unique intelligence and what distinguishes him most is his sympathy with the simple affectionately, in addition to his ability to expressiveness with simple words that everyone understands, especially the uneducated, and believes that he is interesting to talk and can easily attract others.
Its downsides
Engineer Masar believes that one of the man’s disadvantages is the regional current’s predominance over him and his entry into conflicts with Nimeiri and the members of the Socialist Union .. He believes that his greatest flaws that affected his weight and his relationship with the people is the installation of Fur children in most of his government during his tenure as governor in Darfur, which made the sons of some tribes work against him This was shown in the elections for the governor. Which most of his cabinet ministers fought against, though Draig won after fierce competition with everyone?
Professor Khater believes that his immediate decision to leave Sudan and exile himself to Britain to engage in private business was unsuccessful.
His future
The engineer excludes Masar for a man to have any political role in the coming years. He believes that his age is close to seventy years, in addition to his long absence from the country, in addition to the changes that have occurred that do not work in his favor, and he expects him to play the role of “mentor”. Massar believes that Dreij is not in control of his party now, yet he confirms that he is still popular among the Fur and is considered a main political leader for them. He says that Darfur should be respectful to Direj because he is the first to feel the problems of Darfur.
Professor Khater says that Dreij lived with the mentality of Shartay and kept seeing himself as the first and always willing to pay the cost of leadership. Institutional, however, he reiterated that the name Dreij will remain controversial and will be a subject of interest in matters of national construction.
Dr.. Al-Zein says that he has a role he wants to play in the future of Sudanese politics, as he wants according to Dr. Al-Zein is to contribute to solving the problem of Sudan and has proposals that he believes are a process to solve the problem of pastoralists and farmers, which has erupted in the form of a war recently in Darfur.
His wealth
The man left Sudan in 1969 after the coup of Nimeiri, who was deposited for a short period of time and contracted to work as an economic advisor in the Emirate of Umm al-Qaiwain in the United Arab Emirates, which enabled him to accumulate an estimated wealth and returned to Sudan to invest it, but after his disagreement with Nimeiri, most of his properties were confiscated.
Some reports indicate that Mr. Dreij has many funds and huge investments in various parts of the African continent, with the exception of Sudan. In a company they founded in Botswana.
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• Dreij the Lame to its herd written by Hassan Muhammad Saleh Al-Kabbashi
• http://www.sudanile.com/76103
• The details
• Published on: 29 December 2014
• When we were students in high schools, it was one of the tools for promoting regional governance announced by the May government and President Jaafar Nimeiri in light of severe lack of resources, lack of energy, including oil and electricity, and weak agricultural production. The propaganda broadcast by the Maoists at the time was: Major General Al-Fatih Muhammad Bashir Bishara, who assumed the position of Governor of Greater Kordofan by a decision of President Nimeiri, will turn Greater Kordofan into a lush paradise, because Fatih Bishara was a personal friend to the President, Abuaj Dreij al-Muhanna, and the Darfurian intellectual Ahmed Ibrahim Dreij came after the Great Darfur Revolution against the retired military officer the General al-Tayyib al- Mardi, a graduate of the first batch of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Great Governor of Darfur over the past seven years from 1973 to 1980, and when the people of Darfur revolted in universities and higher institutes against the appointment of al-Tayyib al-Mardi, political activists in Darfur, such as Ambassador Ahmed Muhammad, wore their shrouds and declared their readiness to die, it was under the pretext that al- Mardi was not from the Darfur Region, as long as the regional rule means that the people of the regions govern themselves by themselves, the ruler who governs Darfur is supposed to be from Darfur ((what is that situation of that day is to a great extent like today and to yesterday))!. Major General Al-Tayeb Al-Mardi resigned from his position as governor of Darfur under the public pressure on the date. The regions themselves are supposed to be ruled by rulers who governs Darfur from the people of Darfur ((what is like tonight to yesterday)). Major General Al-Tayeb Al-Mardi submitted his resignation from his position as governor of Darfur on the date. The regions themselves are supposed to be the ruler who governs Darfur from the people of Darfur ((what is like tonight to yesterday)). Major General Al-Tayeb Al-Mardi submitted his resignation from his position as governor of Darfur on the date 1/19/1981.
The coming of Ahmed Ibrahim Dreij as the ruler of Darfur was accompanied by propaganda, but it is of another kind, as he was not a friend of President Jaafer Nimeiri and therefore what applies to him does not apply to Fatih Bishara nor Hamid Ali Shash A and al-Tayyib al-Mardi himself. The companies will pave roads and dig water wells, and Darfur will be at the hands of Dreij, it will be God’s Paradise on Earth “Jannat Allah”, on his land. And its rivalry with Darfur and even Sudan in 1984 AD: Dreij had warned Nimeiri personally and repeatedly ((and since his appointment as governor)) that a Famine disaster in Darfur would be inevitable as long as food aid did not arrive from abroad on a regular basis. Nimeiri relied on denying the existence of any problem of Famine in Darfur, so Draig resigned in the same year 1984 in protest and left His deputy, Ahmed Abdel Qader Arbabto act on his behalf.
And Draig’s resignation (alleged by some historians and writers) we did not hear about at that time in the May the 25th Revolution media and its press, but the man,Dreij, went in any case into voluntary exile in Europe and practiced his own business with great success, according to observers.
In 2011 AD, Dreij told the Ajras Al-Huriya newspaper, saying (I endured being away from the homeland for more than 20 years, and I will not return until after achieving the goal for which I left Sudan). So did you see the goal for which Mr. Ahmed Ibrahim Dreij left Sudan thirty years ago when he came out angry From the regime of the late President Jaafar Nimeiri, and did he achieve his goal when he announced in 2006 that he carried weapons and said that his carrying of weapons ((through the National Salvation Front)) is for the sake of Sudan and the marginalization that affected many parts of it. And what Diraig announced while abroad on the same days in 2011 AD that he respects the Doha platform and affirmed his respect for the Qatari efforts to bring peace to Darfur and criticized the marginalization of the political side and the focus on the Darfurian armed movements.
It is certain that the Sudanese public opinion was surprised by the sudden return of Mr. Ahmed Ibrahim Dreij to the homeland, and many generations do not know who Dreij was due to his prolonged absence from the homeland (30 years). Dereig announced that his return to Sudan came for humanitarian reasons and that he returned to his home, his children, grandchildren and his family and struck the famous Sudanese proverb Al-Arja, I am relieved, but when he was asked about his opinion on solving the Darfur problem, he said that the Darfur problem is neither impossible nor insurmountable, and its solution is for the sake of the nation, and it is not with the employees and the mandates. And Mr. Dreij is now a place of hospitality for the political forces, including the National Congress Party (NCP) regime, so does the political arena benefit from the experiences of this veteran politician and his relations, or will his return be a precedent awaited by some of the political leaders who have been separated from them and overtaken the era, so they return and are still in the soul something from even?
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Ahmed Ibrahim Dreij
Ahmed Ibrahim Dreij / Ahmed Diraige
28 December 2014 ·
The name Ahmed Ibrahim Dreij remained linked to the politicians ’disagreements with former President Jaafar Nimeiri, and his relationship with the Republican Palace since his assumption of the position of Governor of the Darfur region in 1982 CE has been marked by the constant tension that culminated in the confiscation of his property by the May regime and his recent departure from Sudan into his self-imposed exile in London .. Who is Derej? We are trying to shed light on his political life and the path of his successes and failures on the path of politics.
Ibrahim Ahmed Ibrahim did not know that the name of the English inspector “Dreij” in the Garsila region, which he admired so much as a nickname for his son “Ahmed” for his light color compared to his peers, that this would obliterate his father’s name. It also did not know that Ahmed, who was born in the village of Kargula, Rifi Zalingei. In the state of West Darfur in 1935 AD, he will have an effective political role in Darfur, and his personality is known worldwide, as well as being associated with Germany.
Ahmed Ibrahim Dreij received his first education in the Zalingei region and the central district in the countryside of Duwaim, White Nile State, because at that time there were no middle schools in Darfur, and he studied high school in Hantoub like many of the early generation of politicians and joined the University of Khartoum to study in the economics department, which was attached to literature, to graduate in 1957 AD as a specialist In statistics .. Before joining the university, he worked as a teacher for a short period at El Fasher National School.
During his studies at the university, he practiced his activities as an independent. He did not have a clear political activity at the university, but he was gifted with jogging and high jumping that he has practiced so far.
After the October 1964 revolution, Dreij was appointed as head of the Darfur Renaissance Front at the University of Khartoum unanimously, in which his political personality crystallized and emerged as a Sudanese political figure, and then he ran independently in the Garsila district in West Darfur, achieving a great victory in the 1965 “second democracy” elections, which he fought for the price of his small vehicle that he sold from Yes, then he will become the youngest member of the Constituent Assembly at the age of thirty. It was not long before him as an independent member until he announced his joining the Umma Party, the wing of the Sadiq al-Mahdi, and he was appointed as a central minister to work in the 1967 government, then he became the leader of the opposition in the Second Constituent Assembly (1968). Observers say that his accession and his tenure buried the Darfur Renaissance Front alive and it is a child similar, which led to The people of Darfur, especially the intellectuals who supported him and appointed him president of the front at the university, are accused of aborting the first collective action of the people of Darfur, where Ali Hassan Taj al-Din joined the Umma Party and Ali al-Hajj remained in the Islamic movement and Muhammad Abdel Manan belonged to the Islamic Charter Front. The finger of accusation was pointed at Dreij that he gave up his responsibilities after the coup of Nimeiri and fled outside the country to engage in his private work, although he is a public figure whose historical responsibilities prevent him from leaving the country, especially since May was besieging the supporters and in front of them on the island Aba
He is any member of the Umma Party and the leader of the opposition, which made the supporters and people of Darfur feel bitter from this behavior, which many described as irresponsible.
After the national reconciliation in 1977 AD between Al-Nimeiri and Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi, a political breakthrough occurred, and Al-Nimeiri issued decisions to appoint governors, among whom was Brigadier General “M” Al-Tayeb Al-Mardi. The decision to appoint him sparked an uprising in Darfur, considering that he was from outside the region and during which “7” sons of Darfur were killed, which prompted Nimeiri to acquiesce. Dreij was appointed as the governor of Darfur as the first of the sons of Darfur, and Dreij found a rally around him from the people of the region and supported him unanimously, and this was evident in the great and massive reception he received at El Fasher airport. However, accusations were leveled against Dreij that he did not exploit this consensus and influence in uniting the people of Darfur. On the contrary, during his tenure in office, he caused many tribal problems due to his misjudgment of matters and his irresponsible statements against some tribes.
Dreige is considered one of the most enthusiastic supporters of the Daoud Bolad movement, who defected from the rescue and led a rebellion in the early nineties in Darfur. It is said that Bolad consulted Dreij and found support and support for the idea from its early stages until it reached advanced stages.
In 1995, Dreij traveled to Asmara to join the ranks of the National Democratic Assembly opposing the Salvation Government. He participated in the assembly conference in the name of the Federal Alliance, the party that was abroad with a number of opponents (Muhammad Ibrahim Khalil, Sherif Abdullah Harir and others. “
Dreij participated in armed action against the rescue from Eritrean lands, and upon the outbreak of armed action in the west of the country, Dreij refused to integrate his forces and unify the leadership and said that he “does not want to conclude his political life with military action.”
Dreij’s opponents say that his influence is running out, evidenced by the fact that most of his bases and supporters have preferred to join the two rebel movements in Darfur.
Karzai Darfur
Dreij’s opponents, especially in the two Darfur rebel movements, called him “Karzai Darfur” and expressed their surprise at his sudden appearance and his meeting with the First Vice President of the Republic, Mr. Ali Osman Muhammad Taha, in Naivasha at the beginning of this year .. They denounced his statements in support of a peaceful solution to the Darfur problem and saw that there was a contradiction with what was. It is practiced from military action against the government in the east of the country. They also accuse him of receiving American and German support for installing “Karzai over Darfur.” The Darfur rebels consider that Dreij’s political role has ended and has been overlooked by Al-Zafar
Last but not least comes the article wrote by the
Fellow of his political struggle, Doctor Shareif Abdalla Hareer as follows:
Activist and thinker Ahmed Ibrahim Dereig to the other side of the river of eternal existence
Dr. Sherif Abdalla Harirthe comrade of the struggle of the deceased Ahmed Ibrahim Dreij wrote saying:
“Yesterday, Ahmed Ibrahim Dereig, the glowing stream of humanity, the brilliant thinker, the statesman and the opposition, the head of the Sudanese Democratic Federal Alliance, has traveled to the other bank of the river of eternal existence, joining his fellow fighters, from the giants of the Sudanese opposition, who met in Asmara in 1995 Under the umbrella of the opposition National Democratic Assembly in Asmara, despite their different political and military organizations and schools of thought, but they united to work together, in order to achieve the aspirations of the Sudanese people for positive change, which leads to a homeland of justice, equality, and freedom and moving towards the development and prosperity of Sudan and its country, away from the grip of Islamic repression and terrorism.
And as I greet it to the people of Sudan in general, to the people of Darfur in particular, and to his remaining colleagues in the Federal Alliance, and to everyone who worked with him an hour a day, to achieve his dream in a federal and democratic Sudan, he celebrates its diversity and separates religion – which is for God, and Between the state, which is for all its citizens, without distinction of religion or gender, and they are equal in citizenship only, and on my own behalf, and on behalf of the surviving fellow fighters, on this bank of the river of eternal existence – I carry our greetings to the giants of Sudan, who went to Those homes, before it not long ago: Professor Tijani Al-Tayeb, Dr. Mansour Khaled, and Professor Farouk Abu Issa, and Dr. John Garang de Mabior, and Professor Edward Lino Abyei. We also carry our greetings to all the martyrs of the liberation movements, the martyrs of the genocide in Darfur, southern Sudan, the Nuba Mountains, the Blue Nile, and the Beja land. We hope that you inform them that we are still in the covenant, we are actively chasing the dream, and we are working to achieve it by all means! Also, our hopes towards achieving this became stronger, after the Sudan Youth Revolution, in December of last year, despite what we see in front of us, the eye’s view of obstacles and barricades placed by external interventions and their collaborators from within. We are on the same path and we are on the same path.
And while I am passing by this station, I must send sincere feelings of sympathy to your family, especially your wife and your companion, who honored us whenever we analyzed your grace, the one who opened the doors to guests, until we became counted as part of your family. Our sincere prayers go to her, in the hours of experiencing the pain of separation. We also send our condolences to your children and grandchildren at an hour when they lost the sympathetic father and grandfather.
At the same time, and I who lived with Mr. Ahmed Dreij, as a companion in political work and in the field, accompanied him in travel, sleeping in the open, enduring stubbornness and misery, and I knew him gloriously and with great burden, I tell you that Ahmed Dreij was a gush of humanity, an “overdose” of humanity. I saw him unleash his human emotions and cry for a humanitarian situation he went through three times, and the tears of men are precious as you know! I will conclude my condolences with a brief account of these attitudes, which made Professor Ahmed Dreij reveal his transparent humanity, brake his human feelings, and express them in front of everyone, in a manner similar to human perfection: severe in strength, gentle feelings and human when solidarity with humans, and Feeling their pain:
1. First stop:Lokaeeb camp of the Federal Alliance, 1997.
On his second visit to the Lokaeeb camp, this was after the entry of our forces into operations on the Eastern Front, and the occurrence of martyrdom among the forces. Mr. Ahmed Dreij could not hold back his tears, while he was merciful to the martyrs, so he released the “brakes” of tears in us, so we cried with him our martyrs, in what looks like collective healing of pent-up grief. And I think those were the beginnings of his review of the feasibility of military action.
2. The second station: K Hospital in the eastern front. On our way back to Asmara from the eastern front, we stopped at Hospital K, to visit the injured in the operations. And there we were told by the wounded man following us, after he pointed to a young woman from the army, who had put her arms in a white “plaster”, and was sitting at a distance from us, that she was injured in the same operation, and she was brave, to the extent that she refused to evacuate from the battlefield, except After the completion of the evacuation of the critically injured. When we greeted her, Mr. Ahmed could not hold back his human feelings, so his eyes teared up and we all cried.
It was at those moments that Mr. Ahmed began to review the feasibility of military action. It is clear that he has given the opportunity to restore his humanity, which does not satisfy the suffering even of a fighter who is injured in a field of work he has chosen voluntarily!
3. Meeting of the National Gathering Leadership Authority at the Nyala 2000 Hotel.
In this meeting that followed the NDA conference, the internal situation developed into an area in which the Umma Party decided to leave the gathering. This happened suddenly, despite the fact that tensions existed, and clearly between the positions of the Umma Party and the vast majority of other organizations within the grouping.
Mr. Ahmed Ibrahim took the floor and wanted to reform between the parties, to preserve the unity of the assembly – the hope of the Sudanese people for salvation from the National Islamic Front regime. It was a moment full of emotions, when a person saw that disintegration began to do its work in a system, the Sudanese hopes for salvation were pinned to them. Ahmed Dereig asked to calm the situation, but the lesson stifled his voice, so I asked for the meeting to be raised so that we could catch our breath.
This is how I knew Ahmad in the wilderness and at home, and the descriptions of the daughter of the goddess of her brother, who she inherited from him, apply to him: Katal in the cell … and my honorable brother at home.
Death is an eternal right. It takes precedence over others, but it has trained all human beings to walk it, because God has made a book for every deadline that does not delay. Oh God, we beseech you نتضرعاليكto have mercy on Ahmed Ibrahim Dreij with Prophet Muhammad Peace Be Upon Him in the gardens of paradise, and to inspire his family, relatives, followers, and the people of Sudan in general and Darfur in particular, beautiful patience in the hour of noble sadness.
Sudantribune.net reported the death of the late Dreij as follows:
• The death of former Darfur ruler Ahmed Ibrahim Dreij, at the age of 85
Khartoum, September 21, 2020 – The head of the Federal Alliance Party and the former governor of Darfur, Ahmed Ibrahim Dreij, died on Monday, at the age of 85, in Botswana, West Africa.
Draig
The head of the Democratic Union “Al-Asul” party and Murshid Al-Khatmiyya, Muhammad Othman Al-Mirghani, mourned the late Ahmed Dreij and considered him one of the loyal national leaders for the homeland and the citizen.
In a statement received by the Sudan Tribune, he said, “Dreij lived his life loyal to his principles and fought for the unity, peace and freedom of Sudan.”
He added, “Dreij was a member of the supreme leadership body of the National Democratic Rally, representing the Democratic Federal Alliance, and defending the Darfur issue with all his efforts, thought and experience during the years of the opposition, and calling for peace, freedom, democracy and justice in Sudan.”
In turn, the SPLM-North, led by Malik Agar, called the late Dreij as one of the pillars of the national struggle. In a statement received by Sudan Tribune, he said, “The late one of the first generation of civil resistance in Darfur and one of the founders of the Front for the Renaissance of Darfur in 1964, and many generations were schooled by him. He was an integrated and unique school of struggle met by the popular movement in the struggle against the fascism of political Islam and its defunct regime. During working together under the umbrella of the National Democratic Assembly, he was president of the Federal Alliance.
The head of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SPLM), Abdel Wahid Nour, also mourned him, saying that he participated and represented the Sudanese cause in many regional and international forums, and had great struggle stations, and he was one of the first to lay the blocks of the armed revolutionary struggle in western Sudan, and one of the most prominent advocates of the federation of Sudan.
He said, “Dreij is gone after a life full of giving, offering and resisting tyranny, and the country is in dire need of his rich ideas, opinions and contributions.”
The deceased was born in the village of Kargula, Zalingei District, in 1935. He studied the Sub-grade (Al Soghra ) and the Elementary School in El Fasher and the Intermediate School (Al Wusta) in Al Duwaim (Bakht Al Reda), then Hantoob Secondary School.
He joined Gordon Memorial College (University of Khartoum) and graduated from the Faculty of Economics (Statistics) in 1957, then Leicester University in the United Kingdom.
He worked as Director General of Statistics in Sudan, then President of the Darfur Renaissance Front in 1964. Then he became a Member of Parliament for the Garsila district in 1965, then Minister of Labor for the Umma Party. He became the leader of the opposition in the Constituent Assembly in 1967, then as governor of the Darfur region.
We would like to conclude this article with the account on Facebook about the late fighter and resistant to tyranny, Mr. Ahmed Ibrahim Dreij,the loyal son of Darfur and the righteous
28 December 2014
Ahmed Ibrahim Dreij
The name Ahmed Ibrahim Dreij remained linked to the politicians ’disagreements with former President Jaafar Nimeiri, and his relationship with the Republican Palace since his assumption of the position of Governor of the Darfur region in 1982 CE has been marked by the constant tension that culminated in the confiscation of his property by the May regime and his finally exodus from Sudan to his self-imposed exile in London.. We are trying to shed light on his political life and the path of his successes and failures on the path of politics.
Ibrahim Ahmed Ibrahim did not know that the name of the English inspector “Dreij” in the Garsila region, which he admired so much as a nickname for his son “Ahmed” for his light color compared to his peers, that this would obliterate his father’s name. It also did not know that Ahmed, who was born in the village of Kargula, a Countryside of Zalingei District i.e. the state of West Darfur in 1935 AD, he will have an effective political role in Darfur, and his personality is known worldwide, as well as being associated with Germany.
Ahmed Ibrahim Dreij received his first education in the Zalingei region and the central district in the countryside of Duwaim, White Nile State, because there were no middle schools at that time in Darfur. Before joining the university, he worked as a teacher for a short period at El Fasher National School.
During his studies at the university, he practiced his activities as an independent and did not have a clear political activity at the university, but he was gifted with jogging and high jumping that he has practiced so far.
It was not long before him as an independent member until he announced his joining the Umma Party, the wing of the Sadiq al-Mahdi, and he was appointed as a central minister to work in the 1967 government, then he became the leader of the opposition in the Second Constituent Assembly (1968). Observers say that his accession and his tenure buried the Darfur Renaissance Front alive and it is a child similar, which led to The people of Darfur, especially the intellectuals who supported him and appointed him president of the front at the university, are accused of aborting the first collective action of the people of Darfur, where Ali Hassan Taj al-Din joined the Umma Party and Ali al-Hajj remained in the Islamic movement and Muhammad Abdel Manan belonged to the Islamic Charter Front. The finger of accusation was pointed at Dreij that he gave up his responsibilities after the coup of Nimeiri and fled outside the country to engage in his private work, although he is a public figure whose historical responsibilities prevent him from leaving the country, especially since May was besieging the supporters and in front of them on the island Aba
He is a member of the Umma Party and the leader of the opposition, which made the supporters and people of Darfur feel bitter from this behavior, which many described as irresponsible.
After the national reconciliation in 1977 AD between Al-Nimeiri and Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi, a political breakthrough occurred, and Al-Nimeiri issued decisions to appoint governors, among whom was Brigadier General “M” Al-Tayeb Al-Mardi. The decision to appoint him sparked an uprising in Darfur, considering that he was from outside the region and during which “7” sons of Darfur were killed, which prompted Nimeiri to acquiesce. Dreij was appointed as the governor of Darfur as the first of the sons of Darfur, and Dreij found a rally around him from the people of the region and supported him unanimously, and this was evident in the great and massive reception he received at El Fasher airport. However, accusations were leveled against Dreij that he did not exploit this consensus and influence in uniting the people of Darfur. On the contrary, during his tenure in office, he caused many tribal problems due to his misjudgment of things and his irresponsible statements against some tribes.
Dreij is considered one of the most enthusiastic supporters of the Daud Yahya Ibrahim Bolad (Jan 1952- January 1992) who was a Sudanese politician and rebel leader, who defected from the so-called rescue/Islamic National Salvation Front and he led a rebellion in the early nineties in Darfur. It is said that Bolad consulted Dreij and found support and support for the idea from its early stages until it reached advanced stages.
In 1995, Dreij traveled to Asmara to join the ranks of the National Democratic Gathering opposed to the Salvation Government, and participated in the gathering conference in the name of the Federal Alliance, the party that was abroad with a number of opponents (Muhammad Ibrahim Khalil, Sherif Abdullah Harir and others). ”
Draig participated in armed action against Rescue from Eritrean lands, and upon the outbreak of armed action in the west of the country, Dreij refused to integrate his forces and unify leadership and said that he “does not want to conclude his political life with military action.”
Dreij’s opponents say that his influence is running out, evidenced by the fact that most of his bases and supporters have preferred to join the two rebel movements In Darfur,
Karzai, Darfur
Dreij’s opponents, especially in the two Darfur rebel movements, called him “Karzai Darfur” and expressed their surprise at his sudden appearance and his meeting with the First Vice President of the Republic, Mr. Ali Osman Muhammad Taha in Naivasha at the beginning of this year .. They denounced his statements in support of a peaceful solution to the Darfur problem and see that there is a contradiction with what was. It is practiced from military action against the government in the east of the country. They also accuse him of receiving American and German support for installing “Karzai over Darfur.” The rebels in Darfur consider that Dreij’s political role has ended, time has passed, and that the way of thinking in Darfur has become ahead of the old arguments which he himself adopted.
Shartay and Statistics
Professor Abd al-Rahman Bishara Dosa, Professor of Microbiology at the University of Ahfad, a former Minister of Agriculture in the Dreij government, says that Dreij entered political life out of his interest in social reforms in Sudanese society and this helped his association with the civil administration, especially that he belonged to a family of civil administration, and the mother of Shartay died when he was in High school, so he was chosen to be a buyer for his region, but he apologized under the pretext of continuing his studies and relinquished the position to his uncle.
Professor Dosa describes Dreij as a social activist and has developed his interest in the problems of his community from a social activist to a political one.
Adam Al-Zein, Director of the Federal Governance Studies Center of the University of Khartoum, added that Dreij benefited from his previous work in the Department of Statistics in using statistics to clarify what the relative backwardness of the Darfur region means in comparison to other regions when he was addressing the people of Darfur in the University of Khartoum Union House, which was crowded with the people of Darfur with their various tribes. He was dealing with the figures, the percentages due to Darfur in the fields of health, education and infrastructure services.
Ustaz Abdullah Adam Khater, a well-known journalist and writer, adds: Dreij is among the new leaders who emerged after the October Revolution 1964 with theses such as William Deng, who focused on the constitutional aspect that calls for federalism, while Philip Abbas Gabboosh called for the cultural specificity of the Nuba Mountains. The regions and their economic development, which invited him to adopt the idea of the Sudanese Democratic Alliance, and Ustaz Khater considers this a success for Dreij as a political intellectual.
Political Feuds
Professor Dosa believes that Dreij is distinguished by commitment to honorable political ethics and does not like “political fawas” and considers him chaste in hand, in addition to his wise leadership as the leader of the opposition in Parliament, in addition to his struggle to save Darfur from famine in 1983 AD by confronting the Nimeiri government with facts while it tried to cover Situations there.
Engineer Abdullah Masar, Wali of the Nile River, considers Dreij as one of the people who had positions in the Sudanese political movement in addition to being a convinced man and polite in the conversation, and he continues Masar to say that Dreij was very popular in Darfur and entered politics without a family background, as he is a normal citizen.
Dr. Al-Zeinsays Dreij suffered from two main problems, namely the emergence of ethno-ethnic politics in the region and what is known as the current of the Arab group and the Zaghawa group and the Islamic movement group led by Ali Hajj Muhammad and the conflict intensified in 1982 AD between these groups in the elections for the position of governor and the Zaghawa group gathered behind its candidate Mahmoud Bashir Jamaa and the Arab group aligned Behind its candidate, the late Ibrahim Omar, and another Arab group stood behind Youssef Suleiman Takana and Dr. Abdul Hamid Al-Tijani is independent and is considered Dr. Al-Zein said his troubles increased after his victory.
And Dr. Al-Zein said that among the flaws of Dreij is that he lacks the ability to win the cooperation of the educated elite despite his strong personal connections with them outside of work. Al-Zein said that the man suffers from a problem in dealing with the elite who excels him in education, and this is evidenced by the candidacy of most of his government members in the 1982 elections against him.
Professor Dosa says that the disadvantages of Dreij are that he does not like to read reports and cannot stand sitting in long meetings and does not take notes during them, which makes him vulnerable to forgetting some of the decisions that need follow-up and believes that his failure to return to Sudan is a disgrace.
In addition to being non-violent, it tends to seek solutions through democracy.
Ustaz Khater believes in Direj that he is a friendly, fatherly man who loves the citizen and the simple life and believes that his genius is manifested when he reaches the simplest human being the most complex economic theories and has the ability to promote his ideas through public relations theories.
Dr. Al-Zein said that Dreij has a unique intelligence and what distinguishes him most is his sympathy with the simple affectionately, in addition to his ability to expressiveness with simple words that everyone understands, especially the uneducated, and believes that he is interesting to talk and can easily attract others.
His downsides
Engineer Masar believes that one of the man’s disadvantages is the regional current’s predominance over him and his entry into conflicts with Nimeiri and the members of the Socialist Union .. He believes that his greatest flaws that affected his weight and his relationship with the people is the installation of Fur children in most of his government during his tenure as governor in Darfur, which made the sons of some tribes work against him. This was shown in the elections for the governor which most of his cabinet ministers fought against, though Draig won after fierce competition with everyone.
Ustaz Khater believes that his immediate decision to leave Sudan and exile himself to Britain to engage in private business was unsuccessful.
His future
The engineer Masar excludes for a man to have any political role in the coming years. He believes that his age is close to seventy years, in addition to his long absence from the country, in addition to the changes that have occurred that do not work in his favor, and he expects him to play the role of “mentor”. Massar believes that Dreij is not in control of his party now, yet he confirms that he is still popular among the Fur and is considered a main political leader for them. He says that Darfur should be respectful to Dreij because he is the first to feel the problems of Darfur.
Ustaz Khater says that Draig lived with the mentality of Shartay and kept seeing himself as the first and always willing to pay the cost of leadership. Institutional, however, he reiterated that the name Draig will remain controversial and will be a subject of interest in matters of national construction.
Dr. Al-Zein says that he has a role he wants to play in the future of Sudanese politics, as he wants according to Dr. Al-Zein is to contribute to solving the problem of Sudan and has proposals that he believes are a process to solve the problem of pastoralists and farmers, which has erupted in the form of a war recently in Darfur.
His wealth
The man left Sudan in 1969 after the coup of Nimeiri, who was deposited for a short period of time and contracted to work as an economic advisor in the Emirate of Umm al-Qaiwain in the United Arab Emirates, which enabled him to accumulate an estimated wealth and returned to Sudan to invest it, but after his disagreement with Nimeiri, most of his properties were confiscated.
Some reports indicate that Mr. Dreij has many funds and huge investments in various parts of the African continent, with the exception of Sudan. In a company they founded in Botswana.
Craig D. Lounsbrough the US born and whose background includes over twenty-nine years’ experience as a counselor in a variety of treatment settings that include psychiatric hospitals, outpatient clinics facilities has been quoted as saying: “Our prayers are something akin to delivering a list, verses surrendering a life. The former will always leave me creating the next list, while the latter will leave me creating a new life.”
Dr. Mahmoud A. Suleiman is an author, columnist and a blogger. His blog is http://thussudan.wordpress.com/