Editing Gaafar Nimeiry (section)

===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.