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Egyptian-Sudanese Relations: The Role of Cairo ( Branch) in the Pivotal Transformations of the Sudanese Community

Dr.Barakat Musa Al-Hawati Professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law University of Bahri and Al-Neelain University

Introduction played a crystal clear role in the dissemination of science in the . A role that is regarded by the Egyptian politics as a pivot to which it should abide by unreluctantly since The Sudan has been Egypt's strategic depth all over the history, in addition to a deep sense of more social communication. And thus It was no surprise that the relationship between the peoples of the two coun- tries is characterized by being lively and honest away from any political tension arising out of the government conflicts in the two countries which are in all cases liable to resolutions. The educational role of Egypt in The Sudan followed the same foreign pol- icy adopted in all . In this context, Dr., former Secretary General of the considered that the educational role of Egypt in the Sudan through the establishment of the University of Cairo Khartoum branch in October 1955 has a great undeniable impact on the political, cultural, economic and social paths in The Sudan. The Establishment of Khartoum Branch In confirmation of the scientific cooperation depth between the two coun- tries, and in response to the circumstances of students in the Sudan, whether graduates of the Egyptian secondary schools or graduates of the Sudanese secondary schools, and in accordance to the bilateral agreement between the Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Government of the Su- dan in 1955, the Egyptian Council of Ministers issued a decree on September 21, 1955 to establish a branch of the schools of Law, Arts, and Commerce of Cairo University in Khartoum, where the study has already begun at five o'clock sharp on Saturday evening October 15, 1955. Note to mention the short period between the issuance of the decree and the beginning of study. The number of students admitted at that time reached about 268 students, of

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whom 39 students at the Faculty of - It gives students the opportunity to Arts.130 students at the Faculty of participation in cultural and scien- Law, and 99 students at the Faculty tific activities, and thus qualifies of Commerce. In 1959 a presidential students to their prerequisite roles decree was issued stating that these in the society. university branch schools shall be- - It fosters and enhances the talents come independent units. as well as the abilities of students The most important consequences to interact in a positive way with of the establishment of Cairo Uni- the community through field trips. versity Khartoum branch: The University Role in the Sudanese - Absorb a large numbers of civil Political Movement: servants in the Sudan, who didn't Normally, the university is related have the opportunity to continue at to the society. This allows scientific, the university study. knowledge, and moral communica- - The large diversity of curriculum tion which naturally results in the compared to what is applied in the arising out of intellectual visions or University of Khartoum. at least helps in the dissemination of - The positive direct impact of the ideas believed by the elite concern- movement of students including ing the issues of national liberation, both affiliated and full-time stu- development, and democracy includ- dents in the political, cultural, so- ing the devolution of power. Conse- cial and economic society move- quently, this had its impact on the ment. branch students and the need to con- - The distinguished role played by tribute through peaceful dialogues university professors in the intel- that escalated in the corridors of lectual movement through plente- Cairo University and unsurprisingly ous scientific contributions in all turned into bloody clashes, before scientific fields. and after the Revolu- In November 1973-1974, Univer- tion, by: sity changed into morning study sys- - The Democratic Front which in a tem after the circumstances that way or another represents the forced it to adopt evening study had Marxist left's thought and is led by ended ended for the following ad- the Sudanese Communist Party vantages: that is characterized by its intellec- - It gives students enough time to tual activity and vitality through study instead of being distracted cultural activity, wall newspapers, between work and study. seminars, theater, and National Culture Association.

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- Arab Nationalists: The beginnings nent leaders are Osman Omar of this organization are docu- Sharif, Badria Solaiman, and mented by Dr. Salah al-Din in his Muzammil Ibrahim Diab, Al-Tayeb PhD thesis at the University of Abdullah, Taha Hassan Taha, and Khartoum in 1940-1970 entitled Osman Mohamed al-Sayed. THE SUDANESE STUDENT These political powers had a sig- MOVEMENT highlighting, in gen- nificant impact on the political con- eral, the culture of the Su- frontations and the opposition, sali- dan. This organization was estab- ent of which are: lished in 1959 with the contribu- - The demonstrations on 21/10/1958 tion of a number of Cairo Univer- that supported the Sudan Trade sity branch students. At the begin- Union strike at that time. ning, it was called the Arab Social- - The demonstrations that followed ist Front aiming to combine be- the murder of Patrice Lumumba in tween the concept of Arab nation- Congo in 1961 against the military alism from the point of view of Al- regime for refusing to allow the Baath Party and Abdel Nasser. passage of the aircrafts seeking to : Through an provide aid. objective review of the political de- - The demonstrations of political velopment in Sudan, the Muslim . Brotherhood movement in the mid- The University Cultural and Intel- fifties didn't have a public dimen- lectual Features (1955 -1993) sion since its leaders believed in long First: The university cultural and term education instead of political social activities were characterized movement as a way to reach author- by a spirit of innovation and ac- ity. Later, this flow witnessed radi- tiveness since it extended to cover cal changes, even though it had an the Arab Club, the College Forums ineffective existence at Cairo Uni- and the cultural clubs, whether by versity. participating in seminars and National Unionist groups: These workshops or by preparing for groups were related with the politi- them, in addition to a kind of intel- cal slogans raised by The National lectual vitality triggered by the Unionist Party, known later as The interviews of some of the profes- Democratic Unionist, under the sors of the Faculty of Arts pub- leadership of Ismail al-Azhari. Al- lished in the Sudanese newspapers, though it was a little group yet it such as Mohammed Zaki al- gently stood against stronger ap- Ashmawi, and Dr. Abdul Majid proaches of which the most promi- Abdin. Also, some of the professors

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of the Faculty of Economics sub- until the band reached the peak of mitted practical proposals on the success in 1965-1966. issue of transportation. Fifth: The acting team of Cairo Uni- Second: The university issued The versity Khartoum branch achieved University Magazine in many se- a great success. Not to mention mesters. Such editions were char- that such success was both materi- acterized by being mainly scien- ally and morally boosted and sup- tific. Also every faculty issued a ported by the University God Fa- scientific magazine. ther Professor Tolba Oweida; in Third: On the student level, there addition to Professor Mohammed was the National Culture Associa- Zaki Al-Ashmawi, Professor of tion led by Youssef Khalil Muham- Drama at the University Faculty of mad and Al-Baath Literary Asso- Arts and later the Dean of Alexan- ciation led by Abbas Abdul - dria University. him, in addition to forums of other Sixth: The university holds a yearly political organizations in which exhibition of paintings, of which they discussed their thoughts and the most successful is the exhibi- strategies. These organizations tion held in , since it presented a quite number of fig- displayed the works of a number ures who, later, had a significant of young Sudanese artists such as intellectual, literary and social Mustafa Osman and Awad from role. the Bank of Sudan. Fourth: The art of acting was one of Seventh: The university wall news- the activities that marked Cairo papers had an outstanding popu- University Khartoum Branch larity since they raised intellectual, where the Egyptian students, by political, social and cultural issues virtue of their artistic efforts, which the national newspapers boosted such activities; The idea were not able to tackle in light of started in 1960 and encouraged by intellectual repression. In this re- Prof. Mohammad Ahmad El- spect, these newspapers discussed Masri, an Art teacher at Gamal democracy and freedom. It, also, Abdel Nasser secondary School, discussed the issue of mixing com- who presented the comic character paring Cairo University Khartoum Abu Lam'aa. Then, Mr. Mahmoud Branch to the National University Albjermi, a French language of Khartoum. Also, some of these teacher at the same school, partici- newspapers had a head start on pated in the development efforts the publication of a number of po- ems sung later, in addition to

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analyses of the most important was characterized by its African international events such as the perspectives raising the ideas of na- Cuban revolution led by Castro tional liberation movement in the and Guevara, as well as the revolu- African continent ideas led by Ga- tion of September 1962 led by al- mal Abdel Nasser, Kwame Sallal in . Nkrumah, Nyerere, Modibo keita, The most prominent of these news- , Patrice Lumumba, papers is Africa newspaper issued and Kaunda. by Barakat Musa Al-Hawwati. It

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