Mariam al-Sadiq al-Mahdi ( ar, مريم الصادق المهدي; born 1965) is a Sudanese politician, the leader of the

National Umma Party The National Umma Party ( ar, حزب الأمة القومي , translit=Hizb al-Umma al-qawmmy; en, Nation Party) is an Islamic political party in Sudan. It was formerly led by Sadiq al-Mahdi, who served twice as Prime Minister of Sudan, and ...

, and the Sudanese Minister of Foreign Affairs since 11 February 2021. She is the daughter of

Sadiq al-Mahdi Sadiq al-Mahdi ( ar, الصادق المهدي, aṣ-Ṣādiq al-Mahdī; 25 December 193526 November 2020), also known as Sadiq as-Siddiq, was a Sudanese political and religious figure who was Prime Minister of Sudan from 1966 to 1967 and again f ...

, an opposition leader and former

Prime Minister of Sudan This article lists the heads of government of Sudan, from the establishment of the office of Chief Minister in 1952 until the present day. The office of Prime Minister was abolished after the 1989 coup d'état, and reestablished in 2017 when ...

, and a member of the central body of the party.

Early life

al-Mahdi was born in Omdurman in 1965. She joined the Umma Party and eventually reached a leadership position within it. She received her first degree in general medicine from the

University of Jordan The University of Jordan ( ar, الجامعة الأردنية), often abbreviated UJ, is a public university located in Amman, Jordan. Founded in 1962 by royal decree, it is the largest and oldest institution of higher education in Jordan. ...

in 1991, followed by a degree in tropical paediatric medicine from

Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) is a higher education institution with degree awarding powers and registered charity located in Liverpool, United Kingdom. Established in 1898, it was the first institution in the world dedicated ...

in 1995. She practiced medicine for six years as a general practitioner in the mid-1990’s in Sudan’s children hospitals. al-Mahdi received a higher diploma in development and gender issues from

Ahfad University for Women Ahfad University for Women is a private women's university in Omdurman, Sudan that was founded in 1966, by Yusuf Badri, son of the Mahdist soldier Babiker Badri. The university began with only 23 students and 3 teachers. It was the first Suda ...

in Omdurman in 2006, and a Bachelor of Law from Neelain University in Sudan in 2013.

Political career

On 30 January 2019, the opposition National Umma Party announced that the security authorities had arrested the party’s vice president, Mariam Al-Mahdi. According to the party leaders, al-Mahdi was arrested from her home in

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...

. This comes within the framework of the protests in Sudan since 19 December 2019, and in the wake of the government’s decision to release political detainees. The next day, Mariam was released, after an arrest that lasted for several hours. On 10 March 2019, she was arrested again and was sentenced to a week in jail but was released three days later. She stressed that Sudan’s removal from the United States state sponsors of terrorism list was of the utmost importance but refused to link it to the Israel-Sudan normalization agreement.

Minister of Foreign Affairs

On February 11, 2021, al-Mahdi assumed the position of Sudanese Minister of Foreign Affairs in

Abdalla Hamdok Abdalla Hamdok Al-Kinani (also transliterated ''Abdallah'', ''Hamdouk'', '' AlKinani''; ar, عبدالله حمدوك الكناني; born 1 January 1956) is a Sudanese public administrator who served as the 15th Prime Minister of Sudan from 20 ...

's government. She is the second woman to hold that position after

Asma Mohamed Abdalla Asma Mohamed Abdalla (also: ''Asmaa'', ''Abdallah'', ''Abdullah''; ar, أسماء محمد عبد الله) is a Sudanese diplomat. She became Sudan's first female Minister of Foreign Affairs in early September 2019 in the Transitional Cabine ...

. After the

October 2021 Sudanese coup d'état October is the tenth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and the sixth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. The eighth month in the old calendar of Romulus , October retained its name (from Latin and Greek ''ôct ...

, the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Ni ...

'' listed al-Mahdi as one of the 25 most influential women of 2021 and described her "as one of he military'smost outspoken critics and as a voice for all the women who took to the streets to campaign for change." Two days after the coup,

U.S. Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...

Antony Blinken Antony John Blinken (born April 16, 1962) is an American government official and diplomat serving as the 71st United States secretary of state since January 26, 2021. He previously served as deputy national security advisor from 2013 to 2015 a ...

spoke with al-Mahdi to express the U.S.'s "condemnation of the military takeover" and urged the immediate release of detained civilian leaders.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahdi, Mariam 1965 births Women government ministers of Sudan Living people Foreign ministers of Sudan People of the Sudanese Revolution People from Omdurman Female foreign ministers 21st-century Sudanese women politicians 21st-century Sudanese politicians Al-Mahdi family National Umma Party politicians 21st-century Sudanese diplomats