Several times, his patriotic and critical songs evoked the suspicion of the military dictatorships of the day, and he was jailed by Nimeiri's regime in the 1970s. To avoid further trouble, he moved to Cairo after the military coup in 1989. - In 1994, he returned to Khartoum and has kept a low profile, despite his great popularity that has led him to appear in concerts in the United Arab Emirates, Europe, China or the US.