Sudan's former Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi has died from coronavirus three weeks after being hospitalised in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to a statement from his family and his National Umma Party.

He was hospitalised after 21 members of the al-Mahdi family contracted the virus in early November.

The 84-year-old Mahdi was prime minister in 1989 when he was overthrown in a coup led by former President Omar al-Bashir.