Mohamed Osman al-Mirghani

This article is about Sudanese politician and Islamic leader of the Khatmiyya. For founder of the Khatmiyya, see Mohammed Uthman al-Mirghani al-Khatim.

Sayyid Mohamed Osman al-Mirghani (Arabic: محمد عثمان الميرغني; born 1936^[1]) is a Sudanese politician, and leader of Khatmiyya Sufi order and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

From left to right: Gamal Abdel Nasser, Mohamed Osman al-Mirghani and Ahmed al-Mirghani in 1960s

Biography

Mohamed Osman al-Mirghani became Khatmiyyat and the People's Democratic Party (PDP) leader after the death of his father Ali al-Mirghani in 1968.^[2][3][4]

Ismail al-Azhari and al-Mirghani reunited in December 1967 in the presence of King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, to end the division between the National Unionist Party and the PDP under the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which was subsequently led by al-Azhari.^[5] Sharif Hussein al-Hindi became the DUP leader after al-Azhari death in 1969, and al-Mirghani became the leader after al-Hindi death in 1982.^[6]

Following the 1985 coup d'état, the DUP formed a coalition government with their historical rival the National Umma Party, with his youngest brother Ahmed al-Mirghani becoming the President of Sudan.^[7][8] The DUP was banned after the coup.^[9]

In November 1988, al-Mirghani met the Sudan People's Liberation Movement John Garang in Addis Ababa to forge a peace agreement to stop the Second Sudanese Civil War. However, these efforts were short lived following the 1989 coup d'état by military officer Omar al-Bashir and Hassan al-Turabi, leader of the National Islamic Front.^[10] Following the coup, al-Mirghani was placed under house arrest in November 1989 and was released by February 1990.^[11]

Al-Mirghani left Sudan to London in 2013 after disagreements within his party, then left it to settle in Cairo.^[12][13] In 2014, he received Sudan's Order of the Republic from President Omar al-Bashir.^[14][15]

On 22 November 2022 after the 2019 revolution and Sudan transition to democracy, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi issued a decision to transfer the head of the Sudanese DUP, Mohamed Osman al-Mirghani, from Cairo to Sudan on a private plane after voluntary exile in Egypt.^[16][17][18] Upon his return, al-Mirghani was received by tens of thousands of his sect followers.^[19][20] He returned to Cairo the following year.^[21]

During the Sudanese civil war, al-Mirghani supported the Sudanese Armed Forces against the Rapid Support Forces.^[22][23]