A prominent Sudanese academic has compared the Islamic Movement — the Sudanese branch of the Muslim Brotherhood — to a mafia, accusing its leaders of looting the country and fanning tribal divisions while war tears the nation apart.
In a commentary published Saturday, Dr. Al-Waleed Adam Madibou labeled the movement a “koz Nostra” — a play on Sicily’s Cosa Nostra — and said its members “swear to protect the network, not the state.” He alleged they launder money through charitable fronts, trade political loyalty for cash and deploy religion to shield themselves from scrutiny.
Madibou, a former economics professor and longtime critic of the 1989-2019 Islamic Movement–led regime, argued that the same clandestine structure still influences Sudan’s General al-Burhan and his forces (SAF) from its wartime headquarters in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan.
“What remains of the Sudanese Army is nothing but a sectarian militia waging a devastating war on behalf of Islamic Movement tribal alliances and vast financial interests,” he wrote.
Sudan has been stuck in a brutal conflict since April 2023, when fighting between the SAF, led by Gen. Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces exploded in the capital, Khartoum, before spreading to Darfur and Kordofan.
The U.N. says the violence has killed thousands and displaced more than 10 million people, creating the world’s largest internal displacement crisis.
Madibou accused Islamic Movement figures of manipulating that chaos to reclaim influence lost after the 2019 uprising that toppled dictator Omar al-Bashir. He claimed the group “monopolizes power, wealth and collective memory,” exploiting regional grievances only to abandon communities “in devastation and shame.”
Madibou also touched on grievances shared by many Sudanese: soaring prices, the collapse of public services and rival armed groups accused of atrocities. He urged citizens across Sudan’s ethnic spectrum to “disavow every criminal who takes refuge in his tribe” and reject appeals to sectarian loyalty.
There was no immediate response from SAF junta in Port Sudan or from leading Islamic Movement politicians.
Analysts say Islamic Movement cadres have retained a foothold in the bureaucracy and SAF despite the 2019 revolution. “They were never fully removed from the security apparatus,” said Kholood Khair, director of Confluence Advisory, a Khartoum-based think tank now operating abroad. “The war has given them room to maneuver.”
Madibou concluded by urging a “moral choice” for Sudan’s future: “Either we justify killing in the name of tribe, region and religion, or we rise as a nation that breaks allegiance to tyrants.” He called for a civilian-led state “where loyalty is to the nation, not to the gang.”
Talks mediated by regional blocs and the United States have yet to yield a sustained cease-fire. As the conflict drags on, voices like Madibou’s are amplifying public frustration — and warning that, unless a broad civic coalition emerges, Sudan risks slipping deeper into fragmentation and rule by competing armed factions.
