Ghazi Salah al-Addin

Ghazi Salahuddin Atabani, also written Ghazi Salah Eldine Atabani, (born 15 November, 1951, in Omdurman, Sudan) is a prominent politician and physician in Sudan.

Personal

Al-Addin is married to Samia Yousef Idris Habbani, the daughter of a renowned tribal chief in Sudan; she is also a medical doctor who now holds the post of Social Affairs Minister in the Government of Khartoum State.

Education

Atabani graduated in 1978 from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum with a Bachelor Degree in Medicine and Surgery. After a brief period of training as doctor in Sudan, he enrolled for postgraduate training at Surrey University, Guildford, England, and got his PhD in Clinical Biochemistry in 1985. On his return to Sudan he became a lecturer at his alma mater, the Faculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum

Career

Apart from his professional experience, Atabani is a prominent politician in Sudan. He had started his political career at the medical school. He was twice elected by the Students of Khartoum University to the membership of the Forty-Man Council which is the supreme political body overseeing Khartoum University Students Union. While in the UK he was elected member of the Sudanese Students Union in the UK and Ireland., and also became President of the Federation of Students' Islamic Societies (FOSIS) in UK and Ireland.

Since 1991, he took up several ministerial jobs, including Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Minister of Culture and Information, and Minister of Communications. As Adviser to the President of Peace Affairs, he achieved in 2002 his most prominent contribution when he signed the Machakos Protocol with Slava Kiir, the current First Vice President of Sudan and Chairman of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, which paved the way for the signing of the final Comprehensive Peace Agreement between North and South Sudan in 2005.

Atabani has chaired several boards of directors, including those of Sudan News Agency, the National Council for Culture and Arts, and Sudan Academy for Communication Sciences and Information Training.

In 2004, Atabani founded Future Trends Foundation (FTF), which is a leading think-tank in Sudan, active in strategic studies and leadership training.

Atabani is a key figure in the National Congress Party (NCP). He was elected Secretary- General of the party in 1996-1998 and, as representative of the NCP, became three times a Member of Parliament. Currently he is an elected member of the Leadership Bureau of the NCP, Adviser to the President, and Leader of the NCP Caucus (Majority) in the Parliament.

Fluent in Arabic and English and conversational in French, Dr Atabani has contributed many essays and lectures, in Arabic and English, in political thought and current political events. He visited about fifty countries around the world and participated in many summits, including those of Arab League and African Union. He is recipient of the Order of the Republic and the Order of Political Accomplishment.