SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Sudan Tribune – Al-Mahdi praises Hamdok-Hilu agreement on religion and politics in Sudan

5/9/2020: Sudan Tribune – Al-Mahdi praises Hamdok-Hilu agreement on religion and politics in Sudan

 Sudan Tribune report that Sadiq al-Mahdi, leader of the National Umma Party, praised the agreement on the relationship between religion and the state signed by the Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North faction leader Abdelaziz al-Hilu.

 "The mechanism agreed between Hamdok and al-Hilu is sound because it provided for holding informal workshops to discuss controversial issues," al-Mahdi said, warning that “the issue of religion and the state needs everyone’s confidence,” warning that premature discussions will lead to polarisation and sedition. Al-Mahdi also praised “mechanisms to include all the absentees so ensure the agreement is national.”

 Sudan Tribune also report that the Hamdok-Hilu agreement was welcomed by the Sudanese Congress Party and the Democratic Unionist Party, and SPLM-N al-Hilu abandoned claims for a secular state and only want to discuss the relationship between religion and the state.