Chaotic return of DUP leader to Sudan
November 21, 2022 (KHARTOUM) – The chairman of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and the religious leader of the Khatmiyya sect, Mohamed Osman al-Mirghani, arrived Monday in Khartoum after nearly a decade.
However, his return did not give rise to a celebration but turned into an arena of struggle over control of the party and the position to adopt in the country’s transition process.
On a plane chartered by the Egyptian presidency, al-Mirghani arrived in Khartoum where he was awaited by thousands of his supporters who had been gathering since the morning nearby the western gate of the airport.
Given his age, the old man did not walk down the stairs of the plane but took a mobile elevator. Then, he left the airport hastily through the eastern gate of the airport avoiding the popular reception on the other side accompanied by his son Gaffar who would accompany him from Cairo.
Sudan Tribune journalists reported that the massively deployed security forces imposed very strict measures outside and inside the airport.
His return on an Egyptian plane raised questions and recalled reports that Cairo wanted the veteran political leader to return home to support the military component and demand that they are given a role in the transitional government.
Gaffar with the support of his father joined the “Democratic Bloc” coalition, which gathers groups that supported the military coup and the civilian government of the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) on October 25, 2021.
A strong disagreement erupted between the two brothers, Alhassan and Gaffar. The first supports the constitutional proposals made by the Sudanese lawyers calling for a civilian transitional government while Gaffar and his allies call to keep the 2019 constitutional declaration which establishes a civilian-military government.
It is worth mentioning that no official or political leaders were at the airport to welcome al-Mirghani.
The National Congress Party welcomed al-Mirghani’s return to Sudan and called on its supporters to go to the airport to welcome him.
Alhassan assaulted
While Gaffar escorted his father from Cairo, Alhassan was prevented from welcoming his father at the airport and returned without meeting him.
Activists circulated a video clip showing Alhassan al-Mirghani leaving the airport, while an unknown man was trying to assault him from behind.
In a statement released after the attack, his office said that Alhassan had faced harassment while he was on his way to Khartoum airport to receive his father.
The statement said that he was taken by a police vehicle that escorted his car to an unknown house near the headquarters of the Sudanese army general command, and he was requested to enter the house alone. But he refused and went to the airport to welcome the party leader.
“When the party leader’s plane arrived at Khartoum airport and Hassan left (the VIP waiting room at the airport) to receive him. But he and his escorts were intercepted by a military force and security men who claimed to be affiliated with the Military Intelligence and the Central Reserve Police. The plane was surrounded (by security forces) to prevent him from receiving his father,” reads the statement.
“There were manifestations of deliberate violence toward the members of the delegation that accompanied him. Some of them were kicked and beaten, most of them senior leaders of the Khatmiyya sect from the various states of Sudan.”
The office added that Alhassan decided to leave the airport to avoid sedition in the party and its religious body.
The statement denounced what it called “shameful behaviour, double standards, bias and blatant interference in the affairs of the Mirghani family, the Khatmiyya sect and the Democratic Unionist Party” from the parties that organized the reception.
bad welcome back party
The committee organizing al-Mirghani return held a celebration at Al-Sayyid Ali Mosque in Khartoum North, gathering a large number of the party and the Khatmiyya sect supporters.
Al-Mirghani was expected to deliver a speech at this function. However, the old man appeared for a few minutes to thank his supporters and left without speaking to the media.
Instead his son and the DUP deputy head, Gaffar stated that his father’s return to Sudan comes in order to unite the ranks, and call for reconciliation among the Sudanese.
(ST)