Called together in the Sudan by Hassan al-Turabi, the 1991 Popular Arab and Islamic Congress Conference sought to unify Mujahideen and other Islamic elements in the wake of the

Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan The final and complete withdrawal of Soviet combatant forces from Afghanistan began on 15 May 1988 and ended on 15 February 1989 under the leadership of Colonel-General Boris Gromov. Planning for the withdrawal of the Soviet Union (USSR) from t ...

and the Iraqi defeat in the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

.Burr, Milard. "Revolutionary Sudan: Hasan al-Turabi and the Islamist State". p. 58 It sought to provide an alternative to the Saudi-dominated

Organization of the Islamic Conference An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived from ...

, although it did not have its financial means. Held from April 25–28, it brought together disparate sections of the

Muslim world The terms Muslim world and Islamic world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is practiced. I ...

in an attempt at Pan-Arabism and

Pan-Islamic Pan-Islamism ( ar, الوحدة الإسلامية) is a political movement advocating the unity of Muslims under one Islamic country or state – often a caliphate – or an international organization with Islamic principles. Pan-Islamism w ...

union. It was estimated to have brought together 500 people, from 45 nations. The congress met again in December 1993 and had a third meeting in March–April 1995. It has been suggested that al-Turabi hoped to "crystallize discontent in the

Arab world The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...

by bringing together under a single banner, hardline Islamic militants and

nationalists Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

".Jacquard, Roland. ''In the Name of Osama bin Laden'', p. 31 Critics suggested the congress also had domestic purposes for al-Turabi and his regime, particularly the "strengthening" of "his hold" on Sudan by posing as a leader of "the progressive Muslim masses", and the regime's "masking" its "narrow origins" and "lack of mass support".

In attendance

* Hassan al-Turabi, Secretary-General of the Conference * Ibrahim al-Sanoussi, Deputy Secretary-General * Osama bin LadenRiedel, Bruce. ''The Search for al-Qaeda'', 2008 * Ayman al-Zawahiri of

Egyptian Islamic Jihad The Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ, ar, الجهاد الإسلامي المصري), formerly called simply Islamic Jihad ( ar, الجهاد الإسلامي, links=no) and the Liberation Army for Holy Sites, originally referred to as al-Jihad, and ...

Burr, J. Millard. "The Terrorists' International". Table 1. p.88. *

Ali Mahdi Ali Mahdi Muhammad ( so, Cali Mahdi Maxamed, ar, علي مهدي محمد) (1 January 1939 – 10 March 2021) was a Somali entrepreneur and politician. He served as President of Somalia from 26 January 1991 to 3 January 1997. The Cairo Agreeme ...

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

* Sa'ad al-Tikriti, son of Iraqi Mukhabarat director Sabawi Ibrahim al-Tikriti * Abdallah Fadil, Iraqi minister of religious endowments Martin Kramer, ''Islam in the New World Order'', Middle East Contemporary Survey 1991 * Abdul-Latif Arabiyat,

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

of the House of Representatives of Jordan *

Yasser Arafat Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...

, leader of the PLO * Mounir Shafiq, General Director of the PLO Planning Center."100 Influential Voices from the Arab World: Munir Shafiq". Center for Global Engagement. http://www.centerforglobalengagement.org/voices/munir-shafiq.php Accessed May 29, 2014 * Nayef Hawatmeh, leader of the DFLP * George Habash, leader of the

PFLP The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine ( ar, الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين, translit=al-Jabhah al-Sha`biyyah li-Taḥrīr Filasṭīn, PFLP) is a secular Palestinian Marxist–Leninist and revolutionary so ...

Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam ...

members

Khaled Mashal Khaled Mashal ( ar, خالد مشعل, Khālid Mashʿal, Levantine Arabic: , born 28 May 1956) is a former leader of the Palestinian organization Hamas. After the founding of Hamas in 1987, Mashal became the leader of the Kuwaiti branch of t ...

, Ibrahim Ghousha and Munir Said *

Fathi Shaqaqi Fathi Shaqaqi ( ar, فتحي الشقاقي; 4 January 1951 – 26 October 1995) was the founder and Secretary-General of the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine. Early life and career Fathi Shaqaqi was born to a refugee family of eight child ...

, founder of

Palestinian Islamic Jihad The Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine ( ar, حركة الجهاد الإسلامي في فلسطين, ''Harakat al-Jihād al-Islāmi fi Filastīn''), known in the West simply as Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), is a Palestinian Islamist pa ...

* Jabbar Amar, member of

Imad Mughniyah Imad Fayez Mughniyeh ( ar, عماد فايز مغنية; 7 December 1962 – 12 February 2008), alias al-Hajj Radwan (), was the founding member of Lebanon's Islamic Jihad Organization and number two in Hezbollah's leadership. Information about ...

of Hezbollah * Rached Ghannouchi, founder of

al-Nahda The Nahda ( ar, النهضة, translit=an-nahḍa, meaning "the Awakening"), also referred to as the Arab Awakening or Enlightenment, was a cultural movement that flourished in Arabic-speaking regions of the Ottoman Empire, notably in Egypt, ...

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

* Abdul Majeed al-Zindani, founder of

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

Al-Islah Islah or Al-Islah is an Arabic word usually translated as "reform", in the sense of "to improve, to better, to correct something and removing vice or to put something into a better position." Islah may also refer to: People *Islah Jad (born 1951), ...

party *

Mohammed Jamal Khalifa Mohammed Jamal Khalifa ( ar, محمد جمال خليفه) (1 February 1957 – 31 January 2007) was a Saudi businessman from Jeddah who married one of Osama bin Laden's sisters. He has been accused of funding terror plots and groups in the P ...

, founder of the Philippine branch of Benevolence International, brother-in-law to Osama bin Laden, representing

Abu Sayyaf Abu Sayyaf (; ar, جماعة أبو سياف; ', ASG), officially known by the Islamic State as the Islamic State – East Asia Province, is a Jihadist militant and pirate group that follows the Wahhabi doctrine of Sunni Islam. It is base ...

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar Gulbuddin Hekmatyar ( ps, ګلب الدين حكمتيار; born 1 August 1949) is an Afghan politician, former mujahideen leader and drug trafficker. He is the founder and current leader of the Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin political party, so calle ...

, leader of Hezb-i-Islami of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

Abdul Rasul Sayyaf Abdulrab Rasul Sayyaf ( ; ps, عبدالرسول سیاف; born 1946) is an exiled Afghan politician and former mujahideen commander. He took part in the war against the Marxist–Leninist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) govern ...

, leader of the Istehar-i-Islami of

Abbassi Madani Abbassi Madani (; 28 February 1931 – 24 April 2019) was an Algerian politician who was the President of the Islamic Salvation Front. As its leader, he became the voice of a large part of the dispossessed Algerian youth. Career Madani was born ...

, founder of the

Islamic Salvation Front The Islamic Salvation Front ( ar, الجبهة الإسلامية للإنقاذ, al-Jabhah al-Islāmiyah lil-Inqādh; french: Front Islamique du Salut, FIS) was an Islamist political party in Algeria. The party had two major leaders representi ...

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

* Ibrahim Shukri, Ma'mun al-Hudaybi, and Mustafa Mashhur of the

Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood ( ar, جماعة الاخوان المسلمين ''jamāʿat /al-ikhwan/el-ekhwan al-muslimīn'', ) is a Sunni Islamist religious, political, and social movement,Eric Trager,The Unbreakable Muslim Brotherhood" ...

* Mohammed Abdul Rahman al-Khalifa, leader of the

Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ( ar, جماعة الإخوان المسلمين'' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan ...

* Adnan Saad al-Din, leader of a faction of the

Syrian Muslim Brotherhood The Muslim Brotherhood of Syria ( ar, الإخوان المسلمون في سوريا, translit=al-Ikhwān al-Muslimūn fī Sūrīya) is a Syrian branch of the Sunni Islamist Muslim Brotherhood organization. Its objective is the transformatio ...

* Mubarak Ali Gilani, founder of

Jamaat ul-Fuqra Jamaat ul-Fuqraa (alternatively Jamaat al-Fuqraa; ar, جماعة الفقراء, "Community of the Impoverished") is an Islamic terrorist organization of mostly African-American Muslims based in Pakistan and the United States. Some of the approx ...

, named as a delegate from Kashmiri Hizb al-Mujahideen * Muhammad Ahmad Al-Sharif, leader of the World Islamic Call Society of Libya *

Qazi Hussain Ahmad Qazi Hussain Ahmad ( ur, قاضی حسین احمد ; born 12 January 1938 – 5 January 2013) was an Islamic scholar, democracy activist, and former Emir of Jamaat-e-Islami, the socially conservative Islamist political party in Pakistan. He o ...

, leader of Jama'at-e Islami * Daud Musa Pidcock, founder of the Islamic Party of Britain * Abdel Bari Atwan, publisher of Al-Quds Al-Arabi * Carlos the Jackal * Abu Nidal * Geydar Dzhemal *Commanders of

Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya ( ar, الجماعة الإسلامية, "the Islamic Group"; also transliterated El Gama'a El Islamiyya; also called "Islamic Groups" and transliterated Gamaat Islamiya, al Jamaat al Islamiya, is an Egyptian Sunni Islamist movement, and ...

*Members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard *Members of the Iranian MOIS *Members of Afghan

Jamiat-e Islami Jamayat-E-Islami (also rendered as Jamiat-e-Islami and Jamiati Islami; fa, جمعیت اسلامی افغانستان, lit=Islamic Society), sometimes shortened to Jamiat, is a predominantly Tajik political party in Afghanistan. It was origi ...

*Members of Pakistani Jama'at-e Islami *Members of Eritrean Islamic Jihad *Members of the Oromo Liberation Front *Members of the Lebanese Muslim Brotherhood *Delegates from the Iraqi Trade Union *Delegates from the

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

n Arab Jamahiriya

References

{{Islamism 1991 conferences 1991 in Sudan 1993 conferences 1993 in Sudan 1995 conferences 1995 in Sudan Arab nationalism in Sudan History of Sudan International conferences Pan-Arabism Pan-Islamism Political conferences Islamic conferences

In attendance

See also

References