MohamMed Uthman al-Mirghani: The New Sudan’s Brotherhood’s Arm to Return to the Political Scene
Mohammed Uthman al-Mirghani al-Khatim, the president of the Democratic Unionist Party, returned to Khartoum from Egypt yesterday, after 12 years in Egypt, at a time of great sensitivity to the implementation of the framework agreement.
Who is Mohammed Uthman al-Mirghani ?
Mohammed Uthman al-Mirghani, known as al-Khatim, is the founder of the Sufi Khatmiyya Method, a religious sect with political aims and adherents in African countries including Sudan.
Al-Mirghani left Sudan in 2010 following disagreements within his party. He headed for London, where he stayed for a short time before leaving for Cairo and settling there for the rest of his life.
Mirghani ran his party from Cairo and formed a political partnership with the former Muslim Brotherhood regime of Omar al-Bashir, sharing cabinet posts with him. His sons Hassan al-Mirghani and Jaafar al-Mirghani served as aides to the deposed president.
Al-Mirghani leads an active party in the Sudanese political scene and enjoys absolute support from the Khatmiyya sect, the religious arm of the party, which is the traditional rival to the Al-Ansar sect led by the late Sadeq al-Mahdi.
A Suspicious Return of al-Mirghani
Informed sources revealed that Brotherhood supporters and followers of the former regime sought the assistance of al-Mirghani in order to regain control of the political scene, after the international community and the people rejected their presence in power.
The sources said that the reliance on al-Mirghani is based on his religious party’s popular base, because he has been exploiting the ordinary people in the rural areas who want his way, as al-Mirghani has been exploiting those simple people for many years to pass on his dubious political agenda in Sudan.
