Editing Gaafar Nimeiry (section)

==1969–1980==

===Early years in power and socialist reforms===
{{Main|1969 Sudanese coup d'état}}
[[File:Nimeiry, Nasser and Gaddafi, 1969.jpg|thumb|Nimeiry, [[Gamal Abdel Nasser|Nasser]] and [[Muammar Gaddafi|Gaddafi]] in Tripoli, 1969|left]]
On 25 May 1969, together with four other officers, Colonel Nimeiry, commanding the [[Khartoum]] Garrison, [[1969 Sudanese coup d'état|overthrew]] the civilian government of [[Ismail al-Azhari]], his coup being termed the "May Revolution". He created and chaired the [[National Revolutionary Command Council (Sudan)|Revolutionary Command Council]] (RCC). [[Edgar O'Ballance]], writing in 1977, said that the 14 seniormost officers of the [[Sudanese Armed Forces]] were all out of the country at the time "either on official or private visits," so the "time chosen was opportune."{{sfn|OBallance|1977|p=103}} On 26 May, he suspended the constitution, dissolved the Supreme Council, the National Assembly, and the Civil Service Commission, and ordered that all political parties disband. That day he also promoted himself to major-general, retired 22 serving officers, mostly senior to himself, dismissed over 30, and appointed 14 new officers to the most important posts.{{sfn|OBallance|1977|p=104}}

Nimeiry became [[prime minister]] later, on 26 October 1969. He started a campaign aimed at reforming Sudan's economy through nationalization of banks and industries as well as some land reforms. He used his position to enact a number of [[socialist]] and [[Pan-Arabism|Pan-Arabist]] reforms.

In March–April 1970 Nimeiry ordered an aerial bombardment on [[Aba Island]] which killed several thousand [[Ansar (Sudan)|Ansar]], who were associated with the [[Umma Party (Sudan)|Umma Party]] which opposed him.<ref name=childress>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cnpwjPcI0UQC&q=Aba&pg=PA40|title=Omar Al-Bashir's Sudan|author=Diana Childress|year=2010|publisher=Twenty-First Century Books|isbn=978-0-8225-9096-5|page=40|access-date=13 February 2011}}</ref> O'Ballance writes that about 4,000 troops, plus tanks, stormed Aba Island on 30 March, supported by aircraft.{{sfn|OBallance|1977|p=107}}

Later in 1971, he was elected President winning a referendum with 98.6 per cent of the votes. He then dissolved the RCC and founded the [[Sudanese Socialist Union]]<ref name=jessup/> which he declared to be the only legal political organization.<ref name=childress/> In 1972 he signed the [[Addis Ababa Agreement (1972)|Addis Ababa Agreement]] whereby autonomy was granted to the non-Muslim [[Southern Sudan Autonomous Region (1972–1983)|southern region of Sudan]], which ended the [[First Sudanese Civil War]] and ushered in an 11-year period of peace and stability to the region. In 1973 he drafted a [[1973 Constitution of Sudan|new constitution]] which declared Sudan to be a democratic, socialist state and gave considerable power to the office of President.<ref name=childress/>

===Coup attempts and alliance with China and the West===
[[File:Poseta predsednika Sudana Džafara Mohameda el Numejrija Jugoslaviji.jpg|thumb|Nimiery with [[Josip Broz Tito|Marshal Tito]] in 1970]]
In 1970 Nimeiry successfully weathered a [[1976 Sudanese coup attempt|coup attempt]] by former Prime Minister and Umma Party leader [[Sadiq al-Mahdi]], and in 1971 was briefly removed from power by a [[1971 Sudanese coup d'état|Communist coup]], before being restored. During the 1971 coup attempt, Nimeiry jumped out the window of the place where he was incarcerated when his supporters came to rescue him.<ref name=nyt>{{cite news|title=Gaafar al-Nimeiry, a Sudan Leader With Shifting Politics, Dies at 79|author=Dennis Hevesi|newspaper=The New York Times|date=11 June 2009|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/12/world/africa/12nimeiry.html}}</ref>

After this coup, he started to move away from Soviet influence and began to receive arms from the US and [[Mao Zedong|Maoist]] [[China]].<ref name=nyt/><ref>{{cite news|title=CHINA'S INVOLVEMENT IN SUDAN: ARMS AND OIL|newspaper=[[Human Right Watch]]|date=2003|url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/sudan1103/26.htm|access-date =  8 January 2020}}</ref> In April 1972, he signed an agreement with China, by which Chinese military advisers began training the Sudanese Army, and further providing for Chinese sale of [[Shenyang J-6|J-6]] fighter aircraft; Mao Zedong also provided Sudan with interest-free loans, and Chinese state companies began constructing a number of public works in Sudan, including factories, roads, bridges and conference centers.<ref>Ismail Debeche, ''The role of China in international relations: the impact of ideology on foreign policy with special reference to Sino-African relations (1949-1986)'', pp. 851-858, 1987, University of York</ref> Sudanese collaboration with China continued even after Nimeiry was overthrown in 1985.

In late 1975, a [[1975 Sudanese coup attempt|military coup]] by Communist members of the armed forces, led by Brigadier Hassan Hussein Osman, failed to remove Nimeiry from power. General Elbagir, Nimeiry's deputy, led a counter coup that brought Nimeiry back within few hours. Brigadier Osman was wounded and later court martialed and executed.<ref name=":02">{{Cite news |date=1975-09-06 |title=Sudan Rebels Stage Coup But Loyal Troops Crush It |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/09/06/archives/sudan-rebels-stage-coup-but-loyal-troops-crush-it.html |access-date=2023-07-25 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
[[File:Ford B0178 NLGRF photo contact sheet (1976-06-10)(Gerald Ford Library) (cropped).jpg|thumb|Nimeiry with US President [[Gerald Ford]] in the [[White House]], 1976]]
In the mid-1970s, he launched several initiatives to develop agriculture and industry in Sudan and he invited foreign Western and Chinese companies to explore for oil.<ref name=childress/> [[Chevron Corporation|Chevron]] would discover oil reserves in South-Central Sudan in 1979. In general he began a more moderate economic policy, where some banks and industries were returned to private ownership (although the state was still in control of much of the economy) and foreign investment was encouraged, as evidenced by a number of bilateral investment treaties: with the [[Netherlands]] 22 August 1970, [[Switzerland]] 17 February 1974, [[Egypt]] 28 May 1977, and [[France]] 31 July 1978. In July 1978 at the [[Organisation of African Unity]] (OAU) summit in Khartoum, Nimeiry was elected Chairman of the OAU until July 1979.

=== 1976 Sudanese coup d'état attempt ===
{{See also|1976 Sudanese coup d'état attempt}}
In 1976, a force of one thousand insurgents under Sadiq al Mahdi, armed and trained by [[Libya]], crossed the border from [[Ma'tan as-Sarra]].  After passing through [[Darfur]] and [[Kordofan]], the insurgents engaged in three days of house-to-house fighting in Khartoum and [[Omdurman]] that killed some 3,000 people and sparked national resentment against the Libyan leader [[Muammar Gaddafi]]. Nimeiry and his government were narrowly saved after a column of army tanks entered the city.<ref name="Burr and Collins 111">Burr, J. Millard and Robert O. Collins, ''Darfur: The Long Road to Disaster'', Markus Wiener Publishers: Princeton, 2006, {{ISBN|1-55876-405-4}}, p. 111</ref> Ninety-eight people implicated in the plot were executed.<ref name="nyt" />

===National Reconciliation===
{{Main article|National Reconciliation (Sudan)}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F054504-0006, Markborn, Staatsbesuch Sudan, Magirus Deutz.jpg|thumb|Nimeiry during a 1978 state visit to Western Germany, testing army trucks]]In 1977, a National Reconciliation took place between [[Sadiq al Mahdi]], the leader of the opposition who was based abroad, and Nimeiry. A limited measure of pluralism was allowed and Sadiq al Mahdi and members of the [[Democratic Unionist Party (Sudan)|Democratic Unionist Party]] joined the legislature under the umbrella of the Sudan Socialist Union. [[Hassan al-Turabi]], an Islamist leader who had been imprisoned and then exiled after the May Revolution, was invited back and became Justice Minister and Attorney General in 1979. Relations between Khartoum and [[Southern Sudan Autonomous Region (1972–1983)|Southern Sudan]] leadership worsened after the National Reconciliation and the National Reconciliation itself came to a premature end in light of disagreements between the opposition and Nimeiry.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sudan - National Reconciliation |url=https://countrystudies.us/sudan/26.htm |access-date=2023-07-21 |website=countrystudies.us}}</ref>