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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Sudan
Index
During the last period of parliamentary democracy, the Umma
Party was the largest in the country, and its leader, Sadiq al
Mahdi served as prime minister in all coalition governments
between 1986 and 1989. Originally founded in 1945, the Umma was
the political organization of the Islamic Ansar movement. Its
supporters followed the strict teachings of the Mahdi, who ruled
Sudan in the 1880s. Although the Ansar were found throughout
Sudan, most lived in rural areas of western Darfur and Kurdufan.
Since Sudan became independent in 1956, the Umma Party has
experienced alternating periods of political prominence and
persecution. Sadiq al Mahdi became head of the Umma and spiritual
leader of the Ansar in 1970, following clashes with the Nimeiri
government, during which about 3,000 Ansar were killed. Following
a brief reconciliation with Nimeiri in the mid-1970s, Sadiq al
Mahdi was imprisoned for his opposition to the government's
foreign and domestic policies, including his 1983 denunciation of
the September Laws as being un-Islamic.
Despite Sadiq al Mahdi's criticisms of Nimeiri's efforts to
exploit religious sentiments, the Umma was an Islamic party
dedicated to achieving its own Muslim political agenda for Sudan.
Sadiq al Mahdi had never objected to the sharia becoming the law
of the land, but rather to the "un-Islamic" manner Nimeiri had
used to implement the sharia through the September Laws. Thus,
when Sadiq al Mahdi became prime minister in 1986, he was loath
to become the leader who abolished the sharia in Sudan. Failing
to appreciate the reasons for non-Muslim antipathy toward the
sharia, Sadiq al Mahdi cooperated with his brother-in-law, NIF
leader Turabi, to draft Islamic legal codes for the country. By
the time Sadiq al Mahdi realized that ending the civil war and
retaining the sharia were incompatible political goals, public
confidence in his government had dissipated, setting the stage
for military intervention. Following the June 1989 coup, Sadiq al
Mahdi was arrested and kept in solitary confinement for several
months. He was not released from prison until early 1991. Sadiq
al Mahdi indicated approval of political positions adopted by the
Umma Party during his detention, including joining with the SPLM
and northern political parties in the National Democratic
Alliance opposition grouping.
Data as of June 1991
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