Although he has in practice been Sudan's head of state since 2019, when the military ousted authoritarian leader Omar al-Bashir after widespread protests, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has rarely been seen in front of the cameras.
But on Monday morning, he sat there - mustached and wearing a military uniform and green beret - in a televised speech announcing that the transitional government and the government had been disbanded after a military coup.
- Burhan is a highly ranked officer in the military, but is really just an old soldier.
He has never been in the spotlight, an anonymous officer has previously described him.
Involved in Yemen
Abdel Fattah al-Burhan was born in 1960 in the village of Gandatu, north of the capital Khartoum, and studied at Sudan's military academy before continuing his studies in Egypt and Jordan.
During a long but anonymous career, he was placed under important rule in the military under Omar al-Bashir, began in 1989.
According to Sudanese media and analysts, it was al-Burhan who coordinated Sudan's forces in connection with the country entering the war in Yemen, on the side of the Saudi - led military coalition, 2015. A war in which at least 1,000 Sudanese soldiers have been killed.
Collaboration with Darfurmilis
According to historian Willow Berridge, it was in connection with the war in Yemen that al-Burhan got in touch with and began working close to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia - which was born out of the dreaded Janjawid militia in the war-torn province of Darfur.
According to Willow Berridge, it was with the support of the RSF militia that al-Burhan could become the de facto head of state in Sudan in 2019, after al-Bashir was deposed.
Since then, al-Burhan has strengthened Sudan's relationship with countries such as the United States and Israel.
As chairman of the country's governing council, the idea was that al-Burhan would lead the country in a democratization process, plans that appear to have been crushed in connection with Monday's military coup.