Al-Mahdi, 84, died in the United Arab Emirates, where he went for treatment after contracting the virus, his family said in a statement.
He made Sudan prime minister twice, first in the 1960s and again during the 1986-1989 uprising.
As head of the opposition National Ummah Party, al-Mahdi became one of Bashir’s fiercest critics and lived long enough to be overthrown by the military last year during mass protests.
Descended from “The Mahtu from F Khartoum”, a religious leader who fought against British and Ottoman rule in the 19th century, al-Mahdi also led one of Sudan’s largest religious groups, the Ansar Sufi order.
U.S. in Khartoum The embassy extended its deepest condolences to “the people of Sudan” and “family and friends” of al-Mahdi. A tweet on Thursday.
As recently as October, al-Mahdi criticized US President Donald Trump and his announcement that Sudan and Israel have agreed to normalize relations.
According to Johns Hopkins University, 16,649 cases of coronavirus and 1,210 deaths have been reported in Sudan.
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