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Mr el Mahdi wants talks with the government based on the principle of a democratic, secular state.
ECONOMIST: Sudan loses its chains
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But for Mr el Mahdi, and some of his colleagues, secularism is akin to atheism, and self-determination equals secession which is no less sacrilegious.
ECONOMIST: Sudan: Through the looking glass | The
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But then, astonishingly, Mr el Mahdi apologised for the attack.
ECONOMIST: Plenty of peace initiatives around but no peace in sight
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More significant was last month's meeting in Geneva between Hassan Turabi, the regime's ideologue, and Sadiq el Mahdi, an ousted prime minister who is now the opposition's leading light.
ECONOMIST: Sudan loses its chains
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The Libyan peace bid has avoided any statement of principles, and both Mr Turabi and Mr el Mahdi may see it as a way of achieving a reconciliation of conservative Islamists that would take secularism and self-determination off the agenda.
ECONOMIST: Sudan: Through the looking glass | The
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Muqtada el-Sadr's Mahdi Army, although Iraq-based, was also supported by the Iranians.
CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Coalitions, good and bad
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The US defeated al Qaida and Muqtada el-Sadr's Mahdi Army in Iraq in 2007 and 2008 by taking and retaining security control over Iraq.
CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: The western way of war