Al-Bashir’s Whereabouts...a Mystery that Baffles the Sudanese

 Al-Bashir with some members of his military team in 1989 (AFP)
Al-Bashir with some members of his military team in 1989 (AFP)
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Al-Bashir’s Whereabouts...a Mystery that Baffles the Sudanese

 Al-Bashir with some members of his military team in 1989 (AFP)
Al-Bashir with some members of his military team in 1989 (AFP)

The whereabouts of former President Omar al-Bashir, who was overthrown in a popular revolution on April 11, 2019, are still unknown for the majority of the Sudanese people.

The ousted president was placed in the central Kobar Prison, along with some members of his regime, before he was transferred by medical decision to the military hospital in the city of Omdurman. His aides escaped from prison two weeks after the start of the war.

Since that date, no one knows the exact location of the former president and the members of his regime, who escaped from prison and were accused of war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity in the Darfur region, by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

In light of the conflicting news about Al-Bashir’s whereabouts, Asharq Al-Awsat spoke with a source close to the decision-making centers in the Islamic Movement, who confirmed that Al-Bashir was smuggled from the military hospital to a safe place in northern Sudan, along with his Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Mohammed Hussein.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source said that the smuggling operation was carried out by a group of extremist fighters affiliated with the Islamic Movement organization and the Islamists’ special forces, without significant participation from the army, whose mission was limited to providing security for the operation.

The source spoke about the implementation of a complex airdrop operation that preceded the smuggling of the two men, which aimed to rescue them by providing them with urgent medical and food supplies, following the deterioration of their health condition.

He added that the two men were taken directly to the city of Berber in the north of the country, where it was reported that Islamist leaders held a large secret meeting in the city, chaired by Al-Bashir. The operation took place more than a month ago, according to the same source.



Fans and Family Honor 'Palestinian Pele' Killed in Gaza

Doaa, the widow of late soccer player Suleiman Al-Obeid, known as the "Palestinian Pele," who was killed by an Israeli strike targeting people waiting for humanitarian aid, according to the Palestine Football Association, looks at his picture while holding his shorts, as her son sits beside her inside their tent in Gaza City August 9, 2025. REUTERS/Ebrahim Hajjaj
Doaa, the widow of late soccer player Suleiman Al-Obeid, known as the "Palestinian Pele," who was killed by an Israeli strike targeting people waiting for humanitarian aid, according to the Palestine Football Association, looks at his picture while holding his shorts, as her son sits beside her inside their tent in Gaza City August 9, 2025. REUTERS/Ebrahim Hajjaj
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Fans and Family Honor 'Palestinian Pele' Killed in Gaza

Doaa, the widow of late soccer player Suleiman Al-Obeid, known as the "Palestinian Pele," who was killed by an Israeli strike targeting people waiting for humanitarian aid, according to the Palestine Football Association, looks at his picture while holding his shorts, as her son sits beside her inside their tent in Gaza City August 9, 2025. REUTERS/Ebrahim Hajjaj
Doaa, the widow of late soccer player Suleiman Al-Obeid, known as the "Palestinian Pele," who was killed by an Israeli strike targeting people waiting for humanitarian aid, according to the Palestine Football Association, looks at his picture while holding his shorts, as her son sits beside her inside their tent in Gaza City August 9, 2025. REUTERS/Ebrahim Hajjaj

The "Pele" of Palestinian soccer hoped to keep scoring goals until he was 50. An Israeli tank shell dashed that dream a decade early, his family said, killing Suleiman al-Obeid as he queued in southern Gaza this week to collect food.

Obeid's widow Doaa al-Obeid now clutches the blue-and-white number 10 shorts he wore for his Gaza club, Al-Shati, one of the only mementos she has of her late husband, as she and her five children mourn the revered 41-year-old striker.

"This is the most precious thing left behind by him," she said, Reuters reported.

The family have few other belongings of Obeid, whose home was destroyed in a bombardment earlier this year. They now live in a tent among the ruins of a neighborhood of Gaza City.

Obeid, likened by fans to Brazilian great Pele for his skills and goalscoring, hit headlines this week after Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah criticized a tribute to Obeid by Europe's governing body UEFA that did not mention the cause of death.

"Can you tell us how he died, where, and why?" wrote Salah.

The Palestinian Football Association said Obeid was killed in an attack by the Israeli military in southern Gaza while waiting to collect aid at a distribution point.

His family said it was a tank shell that killed him.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment and has not publicly commented on Obeid's death.

Obeid, who had played for the Palestinian national team, was still playing for his club in Gaza when the war between Israel and Hamas began in October 2023.

'THIS PLAYER WAS A GAZELLE'

Obeid kept playing throughout the hardship, his widow Doaa said.

"He used to go training every day and never stopped, not a single day. Even during the crisis of war, in the midst of rockets, shelling and mass killing, he would go play. He used to gather his friends and loved ones and go play with them," she said.

The Palestinian Football Association says hundreds of athletes and sports officials are among those killed by Israel's assault, with most sports facilities now destroyed.

Palestinian soccer fans say they will focus not on Obeid's violent death but his legacy.

"Children called him the Henry and Pele of Palestine," said Hassan al-Balawi, a barber in Gaza City, in a comparison also with French great Thierry Henry.

"This player was a gazelle - when we stepped onto the pitch, we enjoyed watching him. All Palestinian soccer fans enjoyed Captain Suleiman al-Obeid."