The Foreign Service Journal, October 2021

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | OCTOBER 2021 85 Former Prime Minister of Sudan and leader of the Umma Party, Sadiq al-Mahdi, addressing the annual Sudan & South Sudan Conference in Hermannsburg, Germany, in June 2015. ROMANDECKERT foreign minister. He welcomed me and responded readily to my questions about national leadership, conflict in Sudan (including in Darfur) and Sudan’s role in the region. His mind was sharp. He was vigorous and still playing tennis. I considered him a friend and enjoyed that special hos- pitality for which the Sudanese are famous. Sadiq’s death comes during a period of transfor- mation in Sudan. Turabi died in 2016. Mirghani survives them both, but he is rarely heard from. The overthrow of Bashir in 2019 and the creation of an interim regime, headed by a military sovereignty council and a civilian prime minister, has brought new leaders to the fore in place of the Nile Valley tribes (e.g., Ja’iliin, Shaigiya and Danagla) that have dominated the politics of Sudan since independence in 1956. Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok is from Kordofan; Sovereignty Coun- cil Deputy Chair Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti) is from Darfur; and Gen. Shams al-Din Khabbashi of the sovereignty council is from southern Kordofan. Whatever happens during this fragile transition, the vast diver- sity of Sudan is much more likely to be represented at the political table than in the past. Sadiq will be remembered fondly by many, not because of his flawed political leadership of his country, but for his enduring commitment to democracy. n