The Islamist movement in Sudan has placed more obstacles to attempts to stop the war, after its leaders chose former Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Karti, who expresses the current that rejects the ceasefire and was one of the main reasons for its outbreak, amid expectations that sanctions will continue on the leaders of the Islamic movement, with an international trend towards banning the supply of weapons and sending troops to protect civilians.
The so-called “Broad Islamic Current,” which includes several Islamic movements and parties, chose Ali Karti as its president, replacing the outgoing Omar al-Amin al-Hussein, following a meeting of the Presidency Council on Monday, indicating that the consensus on the Islamic leadership came without objections, with the weak influence of movements and parties, compared to the Islamic Movement, in which Karti served as secretary-general.
Ten parties and movements signed the declaration of the establishment of the Broad Islamic Movement in April 2022, led by the Islamic Movement, an organizational reference for the dissolved National Congress Party, the Reform Now Movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Just Peace Platform, the State of Law and Development Party, and the Future Reform and Development Movement.
The United States targeted Karti with sanctions after the outbreak of the war between the army and the RSF, accusing him of obstructing the ceasefire between them.
The Islamist movement has begun to reveal its political cards, showing its urgent desire to keep the conflict going for as long as possible. The choice of Karti, who escaped from Kober prison after the war, is meant to reorganize the movement and demonstrate the overwhelming desire to once again seize power.
On Tuesday, the European Union announced its support for extending the UN arms embargo on Darfur to all of Sudan, and the International Criminal Court is expected to issue new arrest warrants for Sudanese officials.
On Wednesday, the UN Security Council will consider renewing the sanctions regime imposed on Sudan since 2004, which includes a ban on the transfer of military equipment to Darfur, including weapons, ammunition, vehicles, paramilitary equipment and spare parts.
Sudanese political analyst Hatem Elias said that “the reality indicates that Ali Karti chose himself as the head of the broad current and not the Islamic organization, based on his complete control over the Islamist groups and presenting himself as a strict leadership figure in adhering to the Islamist project, and his presence at the head of the broad current indicates his desire to move the organization to a stage in which the Islamic movement is under a new name.”
“The choice of Karti also indicates the existence of a split within the Brotherhood in Sudan, especially between the wing led by Karti and the wing of Ibrahim Ghandour and a number of his allies who have ties to the dissolved National Congress Party, a group that tries to provide balanced solutions that save the Brotherhood from the predicament of the war, while Karti leads the current opposed to stopping the war,” he added in a statement to ”Al-Arab.”
Elias emphasized that Karti’s selection is a preemptive move to pre-empt negotiations and dialogues that the moderate movement is scheduled to conduct with some regional countries to discuss the possibility of stopping the war, and Karti’s appointment aims to block this path.
He pointed out that the hardline leader does not only rely on his centrality in the Islamic movement, but there are regional dimensions through which the people of northern Sudan represent the influential organic majority in the organization, indicating that the current development expresses a “split within the Islamist system.”
Karti leads a movement that, since the outbreak of the revolution against former President Omar al-Bashir, has adopted the idea of allying with Sudanese army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and working to weaken the transitional period by working systematically to divide the revolutionary forces instead of the direct coups that Sudanese are used to by attacking the army leadership.
Karti sought to restore Islamist influence and control the joints of the state, and to push for early elections without reforms to ensure their integrity, which supported his political fortunes after the coup against the civilian authority in October 2021, and his plan succeeded in canceling the decisions of the committee to dismantle the June 30th regime, and the return of many of Bashir’s remnants to important positions in the judiciary, the civil service sector, and the military.
After the fall of Bashir’s regime, the Public Prosecution ordered his arrest for his role in the 1989 coup that brought Bashir to power, and confirmed in a statement that his assets had been frozen.
Sudanese political analyst Shamael al-Nour explained that the groups described as Islamist are not on the same page, and there are many currents, including the pro-war wing led by Karti, which makes his choice at the head of the broad current logical, especially since he has made deals with the military component since the fall of al-Bashir’s regime.
She pointed out in a statement to Al-Arab that Karti chose to approach Burhan after the outbreak of the war with the RSF, and he will play a political role through his new position, in line with the nature of the stage in which the military wants to control the joints of Sudan.
The ability of the Islamists to achieve gains from Karti’s presence is not certain, despite the close relationship between him and Burhan. The latter treats the Islamist movements as a card he wants to hold to achieve gains, but he may also move to the card of the revolutionary forces to satisfy his personal ambition to remain at the helm of power.
Al-Burhan knows that if he has a desire to rule, he must abandon the Islamists, which makes him play on all contradictions to prolong his term in power, without reaching a break with the Islamists, nor will he reveal his open cooperation with them.
