Dr. Diab was born in Wad Madani in Sudan in 1957 and he currently lives and works in Khartoum, Sudan.

He has received a B.A. (Honors) in Painting from the Khartoum College of Fine Art, Khartoum, Sudan and further degrees in Painting and Etching from Complutense University of Madrid, Spain. After attaining a Ph.D. at the same institution, he then taught at the Faculty of Fine Art, Complutense University of Madrid for 8 years, before establishing Dara Arts Gallery in Khartoum in 2000.

Since then he has been honored with many awards from around the world, most recently the King Juan Carlos Award for Excellent Service, Knight Class.

His work has been exhibited around the globe from North and South America, to North and East Africa as well as Europe, the Middle East and India. It is also in many private collections such as OFID (OPEC Fund for International Development) Collection in Vienna, Austria, Wifredo Lam Centre of Contemporary Art, in Havana, Cuba, Museum of Fine Arts, in Alexandria, Egypt, UNESCO, in Paris, France, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Amman, Jordan as well as African Centre of Madrid, in Madrid, Spain and Museum of Modern Art, in Tunis, Tunisia.

Most recently, Dr Diab was awarded the Flame of Peace by Öfferl GesmbH, Vienna, Austria in 2010