The Brothers, and then after a short period, the Unionist Party and the Liberal Party were formed. We saw that we could not take the conference from Mr. Abdel Rahman's supporters among the graduates unless we turned to Mr. Ali Al-Mirghani and convinced him of the political line to direct his followers among the graduates to support us. We contacted Mr. Ali again, and he welcomed us with great warmth, showed immense enthusiasm and sincere patriotism, and encouraged us in the struggle, confirming that the graduates are sons of the Khatmiyya and the masses of the Khatmiyya everywhere in Sudan will rally around us in our struggle. Mr. Ali made a great effort to unite the federal parties, but it was not possible. Finally, an agreement was reached on the commitment of these parties not to fight each other and to maintain good relations among them. This was done and adhered to by all. (9) The relationship between Mr. Abdel Rahman Al-Mahdi and Mr. Ali Al-Mirghani had been bad and deteriorating for a long time, and the rivalry between them was intense. Mr. Al-Mirghani accused Mr. Al-Mahdi of aspiring to establish a monarchy in Sudan with him on the throne, and accused the British administration of encouraging this aspiration. This deterioration of relations was a direct cause for the Khatmiyya's support of the Brothers Party and for the support of the National Unionist Party, into which all the federal parties later merged at the instigation of Major General Mohamed Naguib. Despite the Khatmiyya's support for the independence movement, Mr. Ali continued to repeat on many occasions that he was not involved in politics.

Mr. Ali greatly feared Mr. Abdel Rahman's aspirations. Sir James Robertson, the Civil Secretary of the Sudan Government, stated that as long as Mr. Abdel Rahman Al-Mahdi harbored royal ambitions, he would support any party that opposed him. He preferred to become a Ras Tafarian (like the last one - meaning Mr. Ali - it comes to mind) king of Sudan. He said that he detested the Egyptians and that there was not a single Sudanese who wanted them.

But the previous Turkish rule, despite its badness, was better than the Mahdist rule, and he did not want another Mahdi to arise. (10) Mr. Ali imagined that the British were supporting Mr. Abdel Rahman in those aspirations. The British policy towards Mr. Al-Mahdi completely changed. While Mr. Ali was the subject of reverence and honor in he saw a young man wearing shabby clothes riding a donkey heading towards Omdurman... at the age of 37 received five pounds monthly as a pension from the government. That was Mr. Abdel Rahman. (11) But this 9( ) Ali Abdel Rahman Al-Amin : Democracy and Socialism in Sudan ( Beirut) Egyptian Library Publications 28, 28, 18 pp. (07 025 Bashir Mohamed Said: Previous source p. 5 (01) J. S. R. Duncan: The Sudan’s path to independence p. (11) ¥