Gaafar Nimeiry
Swar-Eldahab was born in 1934 in Omdurman, Sudan. He graduated from the Sudanese Military Academy, later attending military education courses in Britain, the United States, Egypt, and Jordan. He became a prominent figure when then-President Gaafar Nimeiry appointed him Chief of Staff, and then Minister of Defence and general commander of the armed forces in 1984.