N:El•J YORK THiES, Tuesday, 2.0 July 1971

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REPORTED OUSTED Head of Coup Is Sai(f to Be Army Major Dropped by Nimeiry as_ Communist

According Middle East Major Atta declared on Sudanese radio that the Suda­nese people were for "true revolution" aimed and for ·all against im1oerialist- l reactionary schemes."

Independent 15 Years The political situation in the

Sudan has been t roubled since the country gained independ­ence from Britain more than 15 years ago, and the troubles increased after General Nimeiry headed a military coup on May 25, 1969, that ousted a shaky regime headed by President Ismail el-Azhary. 1

A large Communist party in I'

the Sudan, although legally after General Nimeii:y

power, has retained con-_, .. ___ L,_ influence in the

It has strongly policy of alliance with

An Iraqi press agency .dis­patch from the Sudan last night said tlW. Major Atta had prom­ised democracy for "all popUlar organizations," an evident ref­erence to the Communist party. He was also quoted as said that local rule granted to the dissident

was itM!Hrl'teel

. full support to the new in t he Sudan.

Sudanese airports were ported to have been closed communications were PoronrltiW'I

cut. According to the press agency, Khartoum and the rest of the country were quiet.

Last November, shortly after General Nlmeiry agreed to link 'the Sudan with Libya and Syria, he abruptly ousted Ma­jor Atta, Maj. Farouk Osman Ham~dallah and Lieut. ,Col. Babikr ei-Nur Osman.

Nlmeiry Accused 3 General Nimeiry accused the

three of having betrayed secrets to a foreign power and disclosed that they had op­posed federation.

ln April, President Anwar el· Sada t of Egypt moved toward another variation of the Feder­ation plans, agreeing with Libya and Syria to form a un­Ion after plebiscites next Sept. I. Because of internal opposi-

T .. New Yorl< TlmM JuiJ 21, 1971

t ion in the Sudan, General Nimeiry did not joiq the move­ment at that time but Iatel' an­nounced that th Sudan would join after the internal political situation had been put in order.

No Resistance Reported BEIRUT, Leoanon, July 19 .

(AP)-The Iraqi press agency reported today that Sudanese troops supporting Major Atta moved into Khartoum behind a column of tanks • and seized Government buildings and !he

. rtldio station without meetmg any resistance.

In a policy statement o~er the official Omdurman rad1o, Major Atta vowed to link the Sudan even closer with Com­mun·ist and Socialist countries than General Nimeiry had done. The indicated 'that he

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'parties and ~de sharp tum to the let't that alienated the cOb&etVltive elements.

He nationalized banks, ~apers and a number of concerns. He made •nnli··uuv· ing expeditions to Moscow visited Communist China last year.

But while tying himself closer to the Soviet bloc, he vowed in Febrauray to "crush" Su­dan's Communist party. He said the Communists orders to join a single govern· ment: party and had planned a co.up against him. General Niuneiry was the unquestioned strongman, serving both es chairman of the Revolutionary Council and Premier.

No Official Confirmation

. I

NEW YORK TD1ES' Wednesday' 21 July 1971

With the overthrow of General Nimelry, the Sudan learly bas lurched to the ·left; but what this will mean n specific policies must await further actions of the

new seven-man Command Council. Only two immediate results seem certain: restoration of full freedom of maneuver for the largest Communist movement fn Africa and the Arab world, and another setback for Arab unity, already battered by Iraq's break with Jordan and Morocco's charges of Libyan complicity in the abortive coup against King Hassan II.

General Nimeiry, ousted after 26 montfJs in power, tried to take the Sudan into the Arab Federation, due to be created in September with Egypt, Libya and Syria participating. He had fired last November three of the officers who led the coup against him this week because they had opposed Federation, allegedly at Communist instigation. He bad also arrested scores of Communists and charged them with treason against his regime.

Sudanese membership in the Federation now seems out of the question, and this damages not only Arab unity but Egypt's leadership of the Arab camp. The Command Council is also dissolving institutions established by Gen· eral Nimeiry after the models created in Egypt by his friend and mentor, the late President Nasser. The way would seem to be opening for a significant increase in Soviet influence in the Sudan.

The new rulers promise some form of home rule for the south, where a black, partly Christian minority bas fought for autonomy for many years, despite savage reprisal by an army made up mostly of Arab-Moslem northerners. Such promises are famil!ar, so the long· suffering southerners will be highly skeptical.

Others will doubt the capacity of the new regime to succeed where numerous governments have failed in the fifteen years of Sudanese independence, especially when it more pn~uc~

Nffi'l YORK TD1ES , Wednesday, 21 J'uly 1971

New S~danese· Regime Acts to.End Curbs on. Reds By RAYMOND H ANDERSON conditions permitted. "alliance" of classes to build a fqrced to seek co-existence.

special to Tile Ne; y.,-k Times . Today, the office.rs ~ho de- Socialist society. The new regime announced CAIRO, July .. 20-The new posed G,eneral · Nm~e1ry an- The council also gave itself that the S};ldan he':lce~orth

military Government in the nounced the fonnat10n of a full power to ad . . t 11 f. would be a ~emo_cratic mde· s d d d l"ft new seven-member command . mJms er a a pendent repubhc WJ•th fuH sov·

u. at move tot~y to 1 t r;- council with Colonel ai-Nur fa1rs of the country and warned eignty for the people, on whose ~nc JOn~ on e t co~n [;? Osman as chainnan and Major that. any subversion_ would-. be behalf the Revolutionary Com• . ommun st ~ovemen an ~. o - Ata as deputy chairman. First pu_mshed by exe~utJOn C?r Jm- mand Council will govern." Jshed . Egyptian-style poh~Jcal reports from the Sudan la:t pnsonment. All airports m the The tone of the announce· formatwrls recently orgamze~ night about the coup indicated count~ were rep<;>rted closed. ment was clearly against any by the deposed. le~der, Maj. that Major Ata was the head of ~ohtl~al tunnOJI h~s pre- move for unity with Egypt, Gen. G~afar ~1-N_JmeJry. the rebels va1led m the Sudan smce the Lib a and Syria, as General ~r~m1er N1m1nry an~ ot~er . . · . . country gained independence NirXei had led ed.

offl.Clals of the . pro-Egyptian Major Ata was a_ppomt~d to- from Britain 15 years ago, with ry ~ reg1me that was ousted yester- day as Commande1 m Chief of diversity of conflicting political d f T" day were reported under ar- the anned forces. parties ranging from the Com- . U. S. Rea y or Jes . rest in Khartoum, the Sudanese The four other members of munists to Moslem sects and Special to The New York T im••

capital. General Nimeiry seized the council were identified as separatists demanding self-de- WASHINGTON, July 20 -power on .1\:t~Y 25, 1_9~9, from Col.. Moh~mmed Ahmed a!- termination for rebellious non· state Department officials said a weak CIVJhan coaht10~ Gov- Sheik,· Maj. Moh~mmed Mag- Moslem tribes in the south. today that ·there was no reason ernment and struggled, m the houb Osman, Maj. Mohammed The Sudan fell under the . · the Su· face of internal dissent and in- Ahmed ai-Zein and Cap. Mua- military dictatorship of Lieut. to believe the coup .10

creasing economic difficulties, weya Abdel Hai. Gen. Ibrahim Abboud from dan would affect Umted States to form ·a non-Communist ' The new council issued de- 1958 until 1964. The civilian efforts to achieve a Middle East "Arab Socialist" Government crees today releasing 49 per- coalition Government that was settlement. . similar to that in Egypt. sons under political detention, f01med in 1964 under Premier . Charles W. Bray 3d, the

He was ousted by a group of presumably · Communists, and Mohammed Ahmed Mahgoub State Department spokesman, opponents headed by three of- suspending all publications ex- was torn by political feuding also told reporters that the ficers he expelled ·rrom the cept the paper of the. armed and was an easy victim for the United !'States had repeatedly last November in a quarrel forces and The Nile Mirror, a 1969 coup of General Nimeiry. expressed its regret over the over plans to link the Sudan weekly of the Ministry of Premier Nimiery abolished Sudanese insistence on break· with Egypt and Libya in a fed- Southern Affairs, which is political parties, but the Com- ing diplomatic relations after eration. headed by Joseph Garang, a munist movement was too the 1967 Arab-Israel war. The

The officers ousted ~n No· Communist. · powerful to be supressed, and United States, Mr. Bray said, is vember were: Lieut. Col. Babakr The council ·also invalidated the Premier found himself ready to resume the ties. ai-Nur Osman, Maj. Farouk Os- all previous decrees, and secu- , _____________ ......;.. _________ _ man Hamadallah and Maj. Has- rity regalations, and abolished l hem el-Ata. the intelligence agency and Opposition to Plan Charged local governmental bodies. General Nimeiry charged Striking at the political sys­

that the ousted officers had tern that General Nimeiry had fought the federation plan at a~tempted to organize on the , the instigation of a Communist pattern of the Egyptian struc- l faction headed by Mohammed ture; the council dissolved the ; Abdel Khalek Maghoub, secre- executive committee of the Su- 'I

tary of the ostensibly banned danese Socialist Union and or- , Communist party. ganizations for youth and 1

The opposition was so in- women formed last May. tense that the Premier was When General Nimeiry seized forced to stand aside when the power he vowed to. organize a

I leaders of Egypt, Libya and regime in line with the "Arab l Syria agreed on April 17 to or- Socialist" philosophy of Presi­. granize a federation, although dent Gamal Abdel Nasser of I he vowed that the Sudan would Egypt, which rejected Marxist

join the union when political class struggle in .favor of an

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NEW YORK Til'ffiS, vlednesday, 21 July 1971 ' ..

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oup in Sudan Planned for Months, Leader Says

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DI<Palch oC Tho Tim .... LOndon • . f h I . r h s d ' f . I' d LONDON, July 20 _ Lieut. pohcws o t e revo ut.lon o t e u an s ore1gn po 1cy an 1. Babakr al-Nur Osman, the May 25, 1969, that brought him added that the country would wly named leader of the to power. continue to support the revolu­dan, said here to~ay that The explained that national- tiof!ary movements in Arab and

nc Su pi ans for yesterday s _coup ization of foreign companies Afncan countries.

tHat had been under d1scus- had been one of the chief'==:-------------. d' sio n since February. p1:oject~ but implementation by

Colonel ai-Nur Osman,. who the Government had been disor­s been in Lo!ldon for a· me~i- derly without prior studies. He I che~k-up .smce July 7, sa1d said that corrupt administration

ha

~~a m IPO

an mterv1ew . that the de- had been brought into the na­sed leader, MaJ. Gen. Gaafar tionalized concerns.

a! :Nimeiry, had. begun to act As for the 15-year-old civil 1fhout cons!Jltmg the govern- war between the Arab majority g RevolutiOnary Command of the north and the black tribes

w in Co unci! i:t such important mat- of the south the colonel said

rs as the proposal to join in he and his ~ssociates believed federation with Egypt, Libya that regional autonomy was the

te a an d Syria. correct solution.

ci he

It was not so much that coun- But this he said could not I members opposed the policy, be impleniented ~ithout the

declared, but that the pro- participation of the southern sal was not even discussed. people and the encouragement cause of the opposition, Gen- of democratic institutions in the

po De

al Nimeiry deferred joining south. er th e federation. The new policy, said Colonel

Because of the· dispute, Col- al-Nur Osman, would insure el al-Nur Osman and the two the right of southerners to pal·­her officers who now head ticipate in the administration e Sudanese regime were oust· of their region, and southerners

on ot th cd last November from the would have a chance to select . Re volutionary Command Coun- their provincial commissio:1ers. 1

I by General Nimeiry. He said he would seek a peace­Colonel ai-Nur Osman, who ful solution of the problem, and 37 years old, said that he would allow the unconditional uld return to the Sudan as return of any Sudanese in com­

on as possible. He said that plete safety for discussion of '

ci

is two so he and his two associates- the question. - Maj. Hashem al-Ata, w •o ar- On the general political fu­

nged the coup in Khartoum ture of the Sudan, Colonel al­sterday, and Maj. Faroul< Nur Osman said that his Gov­man Hamadallah, former· Min- ernment would follow the rule · er of the Interior-had left-' of law and allow democratic ing sympathies but were not and mass organizations to

ra ye Cs ist w

embers of the Communist function. m pa rty. Some reports had de- Colonel al-Nur Osman said

ribed the three as Commu- that he hoped to bullet a strong sts. army, but that its main role The colonel said that he and would be to protect the revolu· s associates' had begun to feel tion and to play a part in a

sc ni

hi in Ni

recent months that General national democratic front. He meiry had diverged from the said he expected no change in

,

NEW YORK TIMES, Friday, 2.3 July 1971

General Nimeiry's reported return to power only three days after he was ousted by a junta of left-leaning officers underscores the continuing instability of the Sudan-indeed, of the whole Arab world.

It is not yet clear to what extent the abrupt turnabout in Khartoum was the result of the "external interven· tion" that was alleged by a spokesman for the revolutionary jWlta shortly before the countercoup was announced. Certainly Cairo had reason to be alanned by Monday's coup, which replaced a friendly govern· ment with one vociferously opposed to a proposed fed­eration with Egypt. For more than a century a succes­sion of rulers Jn Cairo have scrught to dominate or strongly influence their southern neighbor that encom­passes the upper reaches of the Nile.

The seizure of two key Sudanese revolutionary leaders a British airlin~r which was forced to land in was undoubtedly a factor in the collapse of the Regardless of the political consequences, th'-Govemment's outrageous interference with in·

air travel cannot be condoned. The kidnappecJ should be promptly freed and Libya sanction~

flagrant act of air piracy that endangered the of innocent travelers. '

BVen without foreign intervention, the I regime was on a precarious footing. The ed Sudanese CommWlist party, which san,~sar·Pnl·lvJ'I,"

behind the revolt, is numerically small limited influence in a population deeply divided h,.,,.,,.,,., radicals and conservatives, Moslems and non-Moslems, Arabs and non-Arabs, whites and blacks. The economic problems that have confoWlded every government in the Sudan's fifteen years of independence do not lend themselves to glib ideological solutions.

These problems of division and development will con­tinue to threaten the survival of any regime that manages to gain a precar!ous foothold In Khartoum. In addition, no Sudanese leader, ·including Mr. Nimelry, can ignore the deep and widespread distrust of Egypt, especially in the non-Arab South.

President Sadat of Egypt no doubt can take some comfort from yesterday's developments in the Sudan, but the chronic weakness of this important Egyptian ally has been dramatically exposed by the week's events. They confinn the wisdom of Mr. Sadat's decision to seek a negotiated settlement with Israel in order to concentrate on Egypt's internal development, a policy ·that s}lould be vigorously pursued before new convui­

A.qb world

Libya Orders British Plane Down and Seizes 2 Rivals

on Flight From London

By RAYMOND H. ANDERSON Special to The New York Tlmu

CAIRO, July 22-The Suda· 'nese leader who was deposed in a coup d'etat Monday reclaimed power today after ! neighboring Libya ordered a plane carrying two of his ri­vals down and took them into custody.

According to broadcasts from the Sudan, Maj. Gpo., Gaafer al-Nimeiry was restoiedf to the premiership by loyal of· · ficers and troops who staged a countercoup.

The general went on the radio tonight and called on the sudanese people to seize all Communists and l:urn them over to the police or the army.

Earlier, a. British airliner C3r· rying the leftist officer who had been named to succeed General Nimeiry after Mo] day's coup_ was forced down i Libya, whose Government h opposed the ·overthrow.

Flying Home From London 1

One of the Sudanese detaine · in Libya is Lieut. Col. Babakr a.J. Nur Osman, who was on his way to the Sudan from London to take over the leadership of a r egime further to the left than

. the Arab Socialist Government :"of General Nimiery that was

otmted Monday. The other is' ifaJ. Farouk Osman Hamada!· lab. w ho was to have become a member of the governing Su­danese Revolutionary Command Council.

Both had been in Lahdon undergoio§. medical treatment. · Both have $ iecl chargee that they are Ootauntillists.

The Libyims ordered the Brit· ish Overseas Airways Corpora­tion plane that was carrying them to land at Benghazi and reportedly threatened to use force against the airliner unless it complied and unless, on land­ing, the two agreed to debark.

[Britain demanded an apol­ogy from Libya and the im­mediate release of the two Sudanese. In London, the Libyan Ambassador was told his Government's actions were "outrageous" and "in· excusable." Page 6.]

Libyan Denial Reported Later t'he official Libyan ~­

dio at Tripoli reported a denJIIIJ by the Libyan Government that the )?lane landed under duress.

Before today's countercoup in the Sudan, an Iraqi airliner, bound for Khartoum with an official delegation from Bagh­dad to congratulate the leftist officers for Monday's coup, crashe.d in Saudi Arabia 10

: miles northwest of the airport at : Jidda. The ultraleftist Baathist · Government of Iraq had been

Continued on Page 6, Colwnn 1

NE\.V YORK THiES, Friday, 23 July 1971

3 Officers ~lsaid

the first to recognize the regime "17iiilii'iiiEo set up after the overthrow of 11 a

~ast November, General Nr~ · nleiry had dismissed c 1 / al-~ur Osman, Major Ham~d~~j~ ~ an one oth~r officer in a dis­pute over his desire to . -federation with Egypt J~m .a l ~nd Libya . The oppositio/~= ~ncountered, however f

General Nimeiry. g e used concern lJi A statement issued by au- many Arab capitals. This ap-

thorities at Jidda said the plane1 parently was behind the action crashed while making its ap· i of the Libyans in detaining the proach. An earlier report _ by \ two Sudanese officers. Egypt's official Middle East Colonel · Qaddafi, a zealous News Agency had said the1 Arab nationalist, has been . plane had exploded while in I troubled by a large Communist ·

the officers and from the ~:~~ Sudanese Communist g caused him to defer entJ,arty,

the air. movement in the Sudan. He Several Reported Killed wa~ at odds with General Ni·

. When General Nimeiry first , Sl_ze~ power in 1969 one of his _first decrees was f~r a liqui-1

. ~~~Ion cof all j)Olitical parties. , Several Iraqi officials were l meJr;r even over limited Com-

" k'll d h I mumst membership in the Gov. reporte,... 1 e among t em 1 ernment. Mohammed Suleiman, a mem- · f · d 0 J'!imumsts, however ber of the Baathist party lead· Decrees by the officers who ership; Salah Saleh, also a took power Monday lifting re­Baathist official, and Hammoud stnctlOns that had been im­al-Azawy, a Foreign Ministry posed on the Communist move­official. ~ me~t by General Nimeiry were

General Nimeiry, in his briet ' b~heved to have anoered the

. oun vanous ruses to remai~' ; organized. General estimates . are that the Communist move-. ment numbers about 50 000 b t .' expert~ think many ~f the~e . are_ frmge Com_munists better

radio speech, emphasized the Libyans. " achievements he said had been Egyptian concern over the brought to the Sudan by his overthrow of Premier Nimeiry Government since it took power a loyal supporter of Cairo and in May, 1969. He denounced an advocate of federation plans, the "cursed" conspirators who led Cairo to send a delegation o0usted him and declared, "They to. K~artoum Tuesday to in­are traitors." QUire mto the situation nothing

defmed as left-wmg nationalists The leftists who overthreV.:

Ge~eral Nimeiry Monday com­. plamed that he was tend.ina too ~ch toward autocratic "rule

"I warn that anyone who -has been made public bere yet helps to hide them '¥ill . the consultations.

t h~ was nationalizing con: cerns m a disorderly manner and t.J:lat he had not really done an~J~g to solve the lS-year­~ld CJVJI war between the dom­mant Arab Moslems of the n(}rth and the black .African

treated the same as the trai-tors," he added.

The first sign of a recapture of power by Gen!INl Nimeiry

came when the Sudanese radio reported that the broadcastio center had been seized by hf supporters.

The Sudanese radio reported' late tonight that all the leaders o~ t~e coup against General N1me1ry had been arrested. ·

Among them, the radio said was Maj. Hashem el-Ata, wh~/ orgamzed Monday's coup. T~e general spoke with

President Anwar ei-Sadat of Egypt by telephone and told h1m _t~at the situation had been stabilized. He was also said to have spoken with CoL . Muam­mar ei·Qaddafi, the Libyan

:leader. · "I am in complete control " General Nimeiry told Colon~!

,Qa_ddafi, accordina to ' the . Tnpoli radio. "

After the capture of the radio station this afternoon, one of Gene~al Nimeiry's fellow offi­cers _m the regime, Maj. Abdel KassJm Moh11mmed Ibrahim, went on the air to announce that General Nimeiry was well and bac~ in power. Major Ib- , rah1m sa1d that a state of emer­gency had been imposed and ~hat a nationwide curfew was .l m effect from 6 P.M. ,

The seizure of power Monday ' Y • the left-wing officers and e1r d~clared intention to form

tnbes of the

dan at a Glance THE COUNTRY-Largest in Africa, 967,275 square

miles-about two-thirds the size of India-a sprawling plateau that encompasses disparate environments, from t'he northern deserts to central grassy plains and tropical swamps and rain forests in the south. It has a 400-mile Red Sea coastline and is bordered also by Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, the Congo, Chad, Libya and the Central African Republic. ·

THE PEOPLE-Population of 14.8 million divided into two principal ethnic and religious groups. About two-thirds are Moslem Arabs and Nubians clustered in the Sudan's six northerr. provinces. The population of the three southern provinces comprises Nilotic and Negro tribes, generally non-Moslem and largely animists. There is a small Christian minority. More than three-quarters of the population is rural , and the life expectancy is only 40 years. About 85 per cent of the Sudanese are illiterate. The dark, tribal southerners are Africa-oriented; the majority northerners pe Hnked to Islam.

ECONOMY-Long-staple cotton· is principal export; JDore than half of gross national product comes from agriculture, fishing and forestry. The Sudan's economy is dependent on the Nile and its tributaries to · provide the vital irrigation . There is little industry and only I ,474

iles of surfaced roads. United States aid to the Sudan was cut off when diplomatic relations were · severed ·after the Arab-Israeli war of June, 1967. The Soviet Union is now the ·sudan's biggest customer under a barter agreement.

HISTORY-The northern part of what' is now the Sudan, Nubia, was originally colonized by Egypt in the pre-Christian era. The north was forcibly converted to Islam by Arab conquests in the 15th century that gradually extended southward until all of the Sudan was technicaUy "unified" by Egypt in the 19th century. From I881-~ the Sudanese were in revolt against the Egyptians; their control over the territory-won at Khartoum--ended with the battle of Omdurman in 1898. The Sudan remained under British-Egyptian rule until 1956, when an Independent republic was proclaimed.

POLITlCS-The reported return to power yesterday of Maj. Gen. Gaafar al·Nimeiry, who was ousted in a military coup d'etat Monday, marked the fifth forcible change of government since independence.

UNREST-Large factor in Sudan's political instability has been the continuing separatist rebellion- the "southern problem." Hostility between south and north goes back to the 19th century, when Arab slave traders flourished in the south. The prolonged rebellion has been estimated to have cost more than 500,000 lives. General Nimeiry, in 1970, appeared close to a resolution of the problem when he offered the south regional autonomy within a unified Sudan. But the Khartoum Government's decision to join ; the planned Federation of Arab Republics-Egypt, Libya and Syria, reawakened southern suspicions.

SUDANESE REPORT EXECUTION OF 4 WHO" HELPED COUP

Broadcast Declares· Aetions Against Leftist Officers Had

the Approval of Nimiery

IBy RAYMOND H. ANDERSON

SP«<alto The NIW "lOf/f 'J'Imoa •

· CAIRO, July 2~ -'-Four ·of the leftist officers in the Su­darr who ousted Premier Gaa­far. ai-Nimelry Monday and in ' tum were overthrown · yester­'day were executed by a firing !squad in Khartown today, the official Sudanese radio report­ed.

The officers were identified as Maj. Hashem al-Ata, who led the military attack Monday

. and became deputy , leader of the .short-lived leftist rl!g'ime; ·col. Abdel Moneim Ahmed, commander of the Thiril Ar-

1mored Brigade; Lieut. .Col. 1 Osman Hussein, commander of the Republican Guards,' and Capt. Muaweyi A!Jdel Hal, one of the seven-member Revolu­tionary Command Council set up after the overthrow of Gen· era! Nimeiry.

Two other n1embers or the council, Lieut. Col. Bubakr ai~ Nur Osman and Maj. Farouk ,Osman Hamadafiah,' were re- . moved from a British airliner yesterday at Benghazi, Libya, .while en route from London to ithe Sudan. The Libyan press ' agency reported . that Colonel I al-Nur Osman, head of the seven-man council, left for Khartown this morning. It did not say that the trip was vol·. untary.

MUitary Tribunals Formed With the Sudan In f state of

emergency and under curfew, General Nimeiry organized four military tribunils to try what he described, last ,night lih the renegades who deposed ' bim. The .. SUdanese J.'.li-l1io said ·that he bad approved tho death sentences imposed on the four officers by a court-martta.l. · _

NEW YORK TIMES, Saturday, 24Muly 19'71

that he had approved the death• sentence- Imposed on the four officers by a t:ourt-martlal.

rrhe Associated Press,' In a <dispatch from Cairo, quoted Col. Mounir Hammad,' identi­fied as an aide to General Nimeiry, as 'having said that the four officers had not been executed. The agency said SJtis was his comment on be­ing told over the . telephone that the Sudanese radio was announcing that the death sentences had been carried out.] · ·

[ Newspapers in Arab capitals

acclaimed the recovecy of pow-

ler by General Nlmeiry, an Arab Socialist and a friend o~ !Egypt! from what was feared; -and appeared-to be a Com· 'munist-oniented (action.

The Kuwaiti newspaper Al­rai al Amm, for example, ex­pressed satisfaction over the 1"brevity of the dream of 'the ;(}:)mmunists, whose rule lasted ifor just three days." , i

The only Arabi. country: th t; voiced support for the •.occ• p~

'd'~tat in the Sudan was Iraq, 'whose Baath party Government is ultraleftist.

President Hafez al-Assad of Syria sent a message of con­gratulations to Premier Nl· meiry, condemning the leaders of the coup . as "deluded and deceitful."

Sudanese airports rl!malhed

ince be seized po,ver In Sudan in May, 1969.

The Communists objected in p~cular to the Premier•s as­pirations to link the Sudan w•th Egypt, . Libya and Syria In a 1 federation. i

Premier Nimeiry's triumph over his opponents yesterday 8 PJ>E;M& to Improve his chances .for Joining .the federation. It is scheduled to. take effect after plebiscites to be held on Sept. 1.

. BrfUsh Embusy Under Fire LQ.NIX)N,

Foc816f:t)fffat

NEW YORK Tll,lES, Srmday, 25 July 1971

'the Coup· Was a 'Three-Day W onder'

LONDON-The midday sun blazes particularly fiercely in ·Khartoum, Sudan's capital, at this season. By 2:30 P.M. the offices are emptying and people think only of a leisurely lunch and an afternoon nap. The sen­tries on duty at the more im­portant buildings are drowsy.

It is scarcely surprising, there­fore, that there was no immedi­ate opposition when Maj. Has­hem ei-Ata, a left-wing Sudan­ese Army officer, took over Khartoum from the Premier, Maj. Gen. Gaafer al-Nimeiry, by moving tanks into position at 2;30 P.M. last Monday. Major ei-Ata had three hours in which he could be almost sure of no interruption while be consoli­dated his hold.

Then opposition awoke-with a vengeance. By the end of the week the coup had collapsed in a hail of gunfire. Major el-Ata and some of his chief co-con­spirators had been executed by firing squad. And between the beginning and end of the affair, the revolutionary regime in Libya bad become embroiled.

For Major el-Ata, last Mon­day's coup was the second throw of the dice. He had been one of the main organizers of the coup of May 25, 1969 that brought General Nimeiry to power. The army had acted then out of impatience with a situation in which the Sudan's political parties were riven by sectarian disputes, the economy was stagnant and no end was in sight to the expensive mili-

minori ty can· origin were hellion against Arabized north.

But Major el·Ata was dis­missed from General Nimeiry's Revolutionary Command Council last November in a purge of left­ists. General Nimeiry had been negotiating an alliance with Egypt and Libya. To make the alliance possible, the general was trying to weed out from power in Sudan any Communists or Communist sympathizers. Ubya's leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, a devout Moslem and a socialist, is a strong opponent of Communism, which he re­gards as alien to the Arab world.

The dismissed officers -not Communists themselves but sympathetic to militants in the Sudanese Communist party­established contact with other senior Army officers willing to drop General Nimeiry, a strap­ping man more genial than po· Jitica!ly wise. The plotters were heartened by indications that support for the general was be­Ing eroded within the army gen­erally, in the University of Khartoum, in the trade unions (where the Communist party was strong) and among the in­tellectuals of the three cities of Khartoum, Omdurman and Khartoum North.

Major ei-Ata's coup last Mon­day seemed a walkover, at first. By evening he felt secure enough to broadcast his triumph over Radio Omdurman, the national radio station, and promise de­mocracy for all "popular" or- · ganizations, which was taken. to include the Sudanese Commu­t;tist party. Premier Nimeiry was reported under arres t.

The putsch was carrcied out w.ith two of the leaders of the plot far away-in London. One was Col. Bubakr ai-Nur, who was among the men who put General Nimeiry in power in 1969 and had been dismissed from the Nimeiry Government last No­vember. Colonel ai ·Nur appar­ently had felt confident enough to go t<? London for me~~cal treatment even though, llJ e

for some · time this month. With him was another leading plotter, ~aJ. Farouk Osman Hamadallah. The two boarded · a B.O.A.C. flight to Khartoum Wednesday- Colonel al-Nur to assume the post of chairman of the new Revolution­ary Council and Major Hamad­allah to be given another top post.

The B.O.A.C. jet never got to Khartoum. It was forced to land in Benghazi, Libya, by the pro­Nimeiry Libyan regime. Colonel al-Nur and Major Hamadallah were taken into custody, and the airliner with its other passengers flew back to London. (On the same day, an Iraqi plane carry­ing an Iraqi delegation to Khar­toum to congratulate the new Revolutionary Council leaders crashed in mysterious circum­stances in Saudi Arabia.)

At about the same time offi­cer$ and troops still loyal to General Nimeiry staged a suc­cessful counter-coup in Khar­toum. That night it was the general's turn to go on the radio and announce that the reins of power were back In his hands. The Communist party was out­lawed.

On Friday, quick courts-mar­tial convened and handed down death sentences on Major el-Ata and three of his associates. Col­onel al-Nur and Majo UAmadal­lah were handed over to General Nimelry by Libya, and it seemed possible they would also go be­fore a firing squad.

Although the coup turned out to be a three-day wonder, it must be regarded as a warning to General Nimeiiy. l{e can try to win back the support of ele­ments that would readily have supported ¢he plotters or he can turn to repression. In the short term, General Ni­

meiry has decided on the trials and executions. In the long term he is . more answerable to the Sudanese people than to Colonel Qaddafi .in Libyf. Jf he heeds th 8

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. .l' -~ •

NE\-1 YORK TIMES, Sunday, 25 July 1971

A few ours AI Abram appeared this morning with its attack on the Sudanese Com­

as an alien element iri Arab world, a national sec­

retary of the Soviet communist party, Bo,ris N. Ponomprev, {lc;­claimed the "socialist transfor­mation" achieved by the Soviet Communists as · a · model for Arabs to emulate.

Mr. Ppnomarev spoke to t)le national congress of the Arab Socialist Union, Egypt's sole po­litical ·organization. Ironically, , the Socialist Union has just completed . a reorganization to eliminate supporters of the leftis~ official1,1 who challen ed Pnildent , ~nwar el-s ~-JpmMq:

ss. "But If anyone goes ga nst us, he will find our

teeth very sharp. In the Sudan, it has become very clear that our teeth were very sharp," he added.

After Mr. Ponomarev's speech, the cqngress went=n closed .session tb ~ re

Foreign Minister Mahmo on diplomatic efforts

.,.,.," .. ~'" settlement with

NEW YORK TIMES, Honday, 26 July 1971

N:El'i' YORK THiES, l"ionday, 26 July 1971

B UTES GH!EF REBEL AIDE

Military Court Delays Trial of Coup Leader to Allow

His Witness to Testify

BJReiiiAI'II

KHARTOUM, the Sudan, July 25-A firing squad ~ a­ecuted Maj. Farouk n HamadaUah, chief 4ide UeUt. Col. Babakr I

the man who would h&\le led the Sudan if a coup llit Mon· day had lJeeJi i\\ w.

A mllltary tribunal is sched· uled to contlllue tomorrow the trial of ColOnel al·Nur Osman, who was reported earlier today to have already been sentenced to death.

An official source said to· night that the colonel had asked that the commander of

\the Sudanese Medical Corps be allowed to testify and that the court had adjourned UDt!l the witness coUld be summoned.

Major Hamadallah wu the eighth person Involved in the coup to be executed.

COlonel al-Nur Osman and Major Hamadallah were deliv· ered to Premier Gaafar 'lll·Nl· meiry-who was returned to power in a countercoup last Thursday-by the Libyan Gov· ernment.

The two were traveling from LOndon to Khartoum on a British airliner Thursday when the plane WIS f ...... - .. - '· n LJbYI. Tii8

THE NEvi YORK TINES, lfednesday, 28 July 1971

A Soviet scholar a group of visiting Americans last year as "a very large area close to our borders whicb cannot be controlled by any power."

Events of the last few days in the Sudan should bring home the wisdom of that observation to policymakers in the Kremlin who appear once more· to have allowed their ideological ambitions to corrupt thei:r political judg­ment. General Nimeiry's harsh crackdown on local Com­munists suspected of masterminding, from the Bulgarian Embassy, last week's military coup in Khartoum casts a shadow over Soviet ambitions not only fn the Sudan but throughout the Arab world.

The abrupt suspension of the public trial of Abdel Kbalek Mahgoub yesterday after a prosecution witness refused to confirm charges agamst the Communist party

. chief may deprive the world of any clear e.vldence of Communist collusion in the Khartoum coup. It is fn fact barely possible that the Sudanese Communists and their Soviet friends were actually innocent, though of course interested, bystanders in another of the Sudan's chronic political upheavals. Nevertheless, Mr. Mahgoub was later in the day sentenced to death.

The vehemence of General Nimeiry's reaotion, and the strong support he has received from Cairo and Tripoli, indicate the depth of anti-Communist. feeling even among Arab leaders who have been labeled as "progres­sive" in Soviet terminology. Intimations of subversion in the Khartoum affair, following on the heels of the recent attempted take-over in Cairo by pro-Soviet ele­ments, should impel General Nizneiry, President Sadat and pther Arab leaders to re-examine the "fraternal con­tacts" with the soviet Union which have inundated their countries with Soviet aid and advisers under the decep­tive guise of anti-imperialist (Israel) solidarity.

The Russians in tum should recognize the limitations that Islamic tradition and mode Arab nationalism place on any attempt to forge Soviet hegemony throughout the Middle East in the fires of the Arab-Israeli conflict. A legitimate Soviet interest in the stability of this "very large area close to our bprders" would better be served by policies promoting peace between the Arabs and Israelis and peaceful social and political

- umul~uo"' /.rab statot.

Hangiag Is Decreed BJ Tho AUoclated PreP

KHARTOUM, tbe Sudan, July The Government announced

that the leader of the ISUtda:ne!le Communist party had

sentenced to death for In the short-lived d'etat last week. Earlier

that a former Cabinet offi· was hanged today.

carried out, the latest • ., .. ,,.,.,.,,,. will bring to 14 the

execl.\ted, 11 by firing and three by hanging.

The official o.mdurman radio said that Mohammed Abdel Khalek Mahgoub, sec.retary gen­

of the Comm,unist party, be hanged sl)or,tly. It said

he had be.en convicted by a spe· cia! military court on charges

he was the mastermind be· the July 18

The accused plotter .hanged today was Dr. Joseph Garang, the former Minister for South· em Affairs in the Mimelry Government. His sentence by a military court had been ap· p roved by General Nlmeiry.

Mr. Mahgoub's tl'lal, held the Shagara military camp, mlles south of Khartoum, the first of the military bunals open to the public.

The doomed man was a founder of the 6,000-member Comni\mist party, which had been functioning illegally since it outlawed by Premier

after he seized

THE NEW YORK TD1ES, Wednesday, 28 July 1971

Special ton.e New Yon T!mtt

:KHARTOUM, July 27-The Government was .pressing aqead today with actions ·against its opponents as Kbar· toum's :heavily guarded remained calm.

One coup leader, Dr. Mu.l. l Khugali, a nro,fes:so~ cine, bas been yMI'S in expected to had t he leftist coup suc:cee:decl. l A minor rebel, a was given a four-year

These relatively tences and the show Mr. Mahgoub seemed cate that the Sudanese ties were concerned about growing criticism abroad their .harsh measures opponents.

The trial of the Chief was the first of cused plotter open to lie and press. Fifty inumaJim:al were brought to the drab auditorium in the ""'""'"u

NEVl YORK TIMES, Wednesday, 2S July 1971

.. -;

or 1 r··' •' \ < ·~~ ~ , .. '-,, ( I

THE NEW YORK TIJ.viES, Thursday, 29 July 1971

,

NEW YORK THIES, Friday, 30 July 1971

Soviet Warns Sudanese As Relations Deteriorate

ByBERNARDGWERTZMAN

head of the Sudan's I party, and other "patriots." I [In Khartoum, Premier

I Nimejry said .at a news con­ference, "I don't want any

' deterioration In our relation­ship with the Soviet Union and other socialist countries, but if they w ant to choose that path we will have no

alternative."] ; The statement ln 'signed "Observer," an indica tion that it reflects Kremlin

,thinking-said. that the

'

'Union never interfered in other country's domestic fairs. But it was Moscow's

' ~st action to a threat that i 'might cut off economic and military aid or even sever diplo­matic relations.

This morning, the Soviet

~.

' I , .~ 1 1); ,_.·' '• rl1 11'> 'ol - ·" ,'J-,I' . ' '

NEW YORK TIMES, Saturday, 31 July 1971

THE ~W YORK T]}~S, Sunday, 1 August 1971

Mosco arn of .In Relations With Sudan

sent a mt::s:;l~tg~ calling

from to Sudanese

"tried by the tribunal."

Statement to Nlmelry' On the next day. Tass said,

Soviet leaders-presumably in­cluding Leonid I. Brezhnev, the

leader-issued a to General ""1·-h•:~ .. :

through the Soviet in Khartoum voicing con­tinued "grave concern over the reign of terror" in the Sudan.

It said that the statement stressed the Soviet intention not to interfere in the Sudan's internal affairs.

"At the same time, the leaders called attention to cer­tain actions of Sudanese au­thorities that deal a blow at the good relations between Soviet Union and the Demo­cratic Republic of the Sudan," Tass said.

"They had in mind the ·friendly actions against representatives in the damage to property, and acts of· violence Soviet officials in

I

t2'-• ~), "' _. I'· • ,.• I

It I ,I II

e "An

question naturally arises as to where the lea$fership of Democratic Republic of Sudan is pushing the matter, whether it desires to maintain friendly relations between two countries or whether it de­sires to push the matter to their curtailment and possibly rupture."

Again ass~rting that viet Union Had with the

to some or other domestic onto the Soviet Union."

"The Soviet leadership lieves that they are doomed to inevitable'fallure on this path," it said.

In ·their message to Premier Nimeiry, the Soviet leaders had sa1d that it was their duty, "proceeding from humane con­siderations, again to address General Nimefry with an em­phatic appe!ll not tC? resort to extreme measures tn sentences on persons connection with the events July 19."

"They expressed their con­cern that such an approach would meet with a broad un­derstanding among the peoples and the progressive public. It was stated that the Soviet and world democratic public find difficult to understand facts the mass reign of terror in Sudan, where those who were not involved in the events of

are hurriedly condemned to , and the sentences are

immediately carried out," reported.

But the Soviet

THE NEtrJ YORK TIMES M ' onday, 2 August 1971 --------------------

·-.Sudan, Beset by Problems After -~~~~~~~~~~~

By ERIC PACE IIP«W to Tilt New York Tlmu

·.. KHARTOUM, the Sudan, Aug . • 1-0nly two weeks after the

,abortive left-wing coup, the Su• -danese regime is beset by a

,, staggering array .of problems old and new.

- "We won the battle against 1

t he Communists," one Sudanese . official said last night, "but are ' we going to win the peace?"

Stung by East-bloc criticism ' of his harsh lnt~rnal policies, .Premier Gaafar ai-Nimelry has . warned the Soviet Ambassador that unless it stops by tomor­row morning, he wlll retaliate. [According to The Associated Press, the Egyptian Middle East , News Agency reported that the Sudanese regime today charged ' the Soviet Union end Bulgaria with intervening in its affairs e·nd recalled its ambassadors t otbose countries.]

No matter what happens. Premier Nlmeiry still faces the problem of his regime's sudden I unpopularity abroad.

In additron, the Sudanese f Communist party remains a I problem for his regime even though three top-ranking civil· I an Communists have been ex-

,tteuted, along with I I mlUtary p~en who were accused of lead­lilg the left-wing coup of July 19.

- Communist pamphlets have been appearing in Khartoum in · ·recent days, and the surviving : party leadership is said to have j chosen a new party chief to replace Mohammed Abdel Kha­lik Mahgoub, one of the ex­ecuted men.

Gener.al Nimefrv also faces the problems of continuing dis­sidence in his officer corps, in addition to the old problems 1

of general economic backward- 1

ness and unrest among the non- 1

Moslem blacks of the south. Leader Professes Confldenee The Premier professes to be

1 confident. He told visitors last week, "I feel great satisfaction t hat the Sudanese people have

1 been able to restore the author• ity of the main revolution"­that is, of his own regime, which seized power in 1969.

itle~liiiif11P.,.J.0 o eM e Je to generate ne

support from overseas to off ;!he criticism from Communist ~pitals, Where the authorities ·;are upset over his acts against

well-known Marxists. Suspicion Continues

To be sure, General Nimeiry cpmmuted ¢he most recent death sentence passed on an al­leged left-wing plotter. But deep ,suspicion continues between Sudanese and foreign Commu­nists here. Twenty Soviet ex­perts are reported to have been obliged to leave the country lately, although the reason for their reported ·departure has not been made clear.

In addition General Nimeiry, in blunt talks yesterday with the Soviet Ambassador, Anatoly N. Nikdlayev, said that if Mos­cow continued what he called its unfounded denunciations, he would take countermeasures to restore the Sudan's "dignity and prestige."

Neither the President nor his aides have said just what thls might entail, but they a re un· derstood to have been consider· ing expelling one or more high Soviet diplomats. This would leave the future ·of the hundreds of Soviet military and civilian experts here open to negotia· t ion.

Yet the East-bloc capitals are likely to mount more criticism if and when the regime cap­tures other Communist leaders.

Officials ·said last night tbtt fo\lr high-ranking Communl$ti were still being sought by the police and that they were ex­pected to be t ried and ell:· ecuted as plotters if captured.

The newly designated party chief is thought to be among them. r&n..~,~ ~er ~ J1Pt

ullcl tip mus organJzaUons to stimulate popular support. But whether these will be SU(:C~IS· I ful remains to be seen. Yet the rain or criticism from

the East bloc has underscored what many observers here see as the Premier's main problem: A tough career officer, he is more successful at crushing op-

. position than in buildinr up support.

He has also been building up the strength of the army, from

122.000 men to 40,000 men. All ·this costs money and aggra­vates the Sudan's development problems, however.

Thus he was · a-ble to spur loyalist troops on to victory during the turbulent counter­coup that returned him to pow­er on July 22. His men swiftly rounded up alleged coup l_ead· ts,~edl&bem aDttiptl,tcatl to eo

Military spending has than doubled since General Nimeiry came to power. Ex­penditures were running at the rate of at least $1 00-mllllon year ln recent months-and perhaps as much as $150-mil­lion a year. With military ex-

~ dJIC1 10111e ~ly placed suitaneae taY at l! new chief Is one of the four hunted leaders, Mohammed Ib· -rahim Nugud, a 42-year-old Bulgarian-tralned professional party worker who ic presently biding. .

Admirers of the Communists say that the party's remnants are operating four clandestine printing presses in the Khar· town area. The most recent pamphlet, wlllcb appeared this weekend, proclaimed that the party was stm ellve.

Government officials ·assert that m~P~Y of the ·party's 5,000 bard-core members have left I~ • .'._. ' •,.'l •• - ~~1\ J.fll ~~J,-.'

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