Sudan’s prominent intellectual, veteran politician and former foreign minister Mansour Khalid died at age 89 in one of Khartoum’s hospitals, leaving behind a long and rich legacy.
Khalid was a published author with books, written both in English and Arabic, focused on Sudan’s political spectrum, which he was famous for sharply criticizing. In one of his books, “The Sudanese political elite and the addiction of failure,” he discussed deeply the failures of the political ruling class in post-1956 Sudan.
He was raised by a Sufi family in the city of Omdurman, where he was born in 1931.
A fierce intellectual, Khalid received a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1957. It was followed by a Master of Laws from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania three years later. Khalid earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Paris in a couple of years.
At the University of Colorado, Khalid lectured on international law, comparative law and the law of international aid.
Khalid’s literary talent shined bright since his school days. He soon drew attention to his excellence in research and investigation, the accuracy of analysis, and his high writing and language integrity capabilities.
He worked as an independent press correspondent for a number of dailies, then as a reporter for AFP from Khartoum.
After his graduation, he practiced law in the office of the late lawyer and politician Farouk Abu Issa, and after that he moved to work as a secretary in the office of former Prime Minister Abdullah Khalil.
Khalid served as the minister of youth and social affairs at the government of Sudan. In the early 1970s, President Jaafar Nimeri appointed Khalid as Foreign Minister.
Khalid stirred a lot of political, intellectual and cultural controversy, especially after deciding to join the 1969 seizure of power under Nimeri.
Khalid also set up a long collaboration with the United Nations, first as a law officer at its New York City secretariat. More so, Khalid achieved a transfer to Paris where he worked with UNESCO as an officer responsible for Arab states in the bureau of relations with member states for four years.
In the 1980s, Khalid shared close ties with the late South Sudan politician John Garang.
Khalid became close to Garang, which made him contribute to theorizing the idea of the "New Sudan", a political project that the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) was proposing to end the ongoing war and political turmoil.
Khalid had joined the SPLM which had been fighting against the rule of now ousted President Omar al-Bashir, before signing peace agreement in 2005, that later led to the separation of the South from the North in 2011.
