al-Dabi was born in February, 1948 in the northern Sudanese town of Berber, situated in the River Nile state. He served in the Sudanese Armed Forces for 30 years, enlisting with the rank of lieutenant in 1969 (the year of Gaafar al-Nimeiri's military coup, known as the May Revolution). Following the military coup of General Omar al-Bashir in June 1989, he was appointed chief of Sudanese military intelligence. Between July 1995 and November 1996, he was head of the foreign branch of Sudanese security, and later on served as deputy chief of staff for military operations from 1996 to 1999, commanding Sudanese Forces against the insurgency in the former Southern Sudan. Sudanese Rebel Leaders have accused him of being involved in severe human rights violations in Darfur during the Darfur Conflict. He was presidential representative to Darfur from July till November 1999 (holding responsibility for security, with full presidential jurisdiction), and returned to serve in the same capacity in 2004.