Mohamed Osman al-Mirghani 1936 – 2026

Biography

Mohamed Osman al-Mirghani was a Sudanese politician and religious leader who led the Khatmiyya Sufi order and the Democratic Unionist Party for more than half a century. Born in 1936, he succeeded his father, Ali al-Mirghani, as head of the order and the party in 1968, and in 1988 signed the Mirghani–Garang peace agreement with John Garang of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement. He remained one of Sudan’s most prominent traditional political figures into old age. He died in Cairo, Egypt, on November 13, 2026, aged 90, and was to be buried in Khartoum North at his father’s mosque.