Reuters: Sudanese Figure Lined His Pockets as He Helped Remove Bashir

In an exposé, the Reuters news agency says that Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, a powerful and feared figure in the country’s military, sided with protesters seeking an end to government corruption and the 30-year rule of dictator Omar al-Bashir while sending millions of dollars’ worth of gold for safekeeping in Dubai. Dagalo, who once headed the Janjaweed militia that terrorized the country’s restive Darfur region, told protesters when the anti-Bashir demonstrations began last December: “There are some people who are doing great harm, and they are the officials, not the poor.” He became one of the leaders of the country’s Transitional Military Council after Bashir was toppled and arrested. Public pressure eventually led the council to share power with civilians until elections could be held. According to the exposé, the gold was transferred by a firm belonging to Dagalo’s family, the company having been set up with Bashir’s blessing to help send gold bars abroad as he presided over an “imploding” economy.