Tawakkol Karman, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights activist, has offered condolences to the Sudanese people and the Arab and Islamic world on the death of the head of the opposition National Umma Party, Sadiq al-Mahdi.

In a statement of condolence on her official Facebook page today, Tawakkol Karman expressed her sincere condolences and sympathy to “the great Sudanese people and to our Arab and Islamic nations on the death of Sadiq al-Mahdi, the head of the Sudanese National Umma Party”, praying to God to have mercy on him.

Al-Mahdi, aged 84, died Thursday from coronavirus in the United Arab Emirates, where he had traveled for treatment.

He served as Sudan’s last democratically elected prime minister before overthrowing in the 1989 coup that brought former President Omar al-Bashir to power.

He also led Sudan as prime minister twice, first in the 1960s and again from 1986 to 1989.

As a descendant of the 19th century religious leader "The Mahdi of Khartoum" who fought British and Ottoman rule, Al-Mahdi led the Ansar Sufi order, one of the largest religious groupings in Sudan.

As the head of the opposition National Umma Party, Al-Mahdi became one of the most outspoken opponents of Bashir's regime and was arrested several times during the periods between ‪1969-1973‬ and ‪1983-1989‬.

Sudan has so far reported 16,649 cases of coronavirus and 1,210 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.