Background
Gaafar an-Nimeiry was born on January 1, 1930, son of a postman at Wad Nubawi, a suburb of Omdurman
Gaafar an-Nimeiry was born on January 1, 1930, son of a postman at Wad Nubawi, a suburb of Omdurman
Educated at the Koranic School and El Hirja Elementary School, Omdurman then Medani Government School and Hantoub Secondary School. One of 12 sixth-formers expelled for going on strike against the Legislative Assembly in 1948, but allowed back after seven days. Entered military college on May 25, 1949, and passed out as second lieutenant on February 19,1952.
After a three-year assignment to Western Command he made his first visit to Egypt on a training course. It was cut short for political reasons in 1955 and his return for an armoured corps course was ended equally abruptly because of the Suez War in October 1956. But he went to Northern Command at Shendi fired with enthusiasm for the Nasser revolution. This led to his arrest in autumn 1957, accused of having led the armoured corps in support of an abortive coup by Abdel Rahman Kabeida. He was suspended from duty until April 1959 when he was posted to the Southern Command at Juba. Two years later he was transferred to the unruly infantry command headquarters of the Khartoum garrison at El Shagara.
He was posted out of trouble’s way to four courses abroad to Cyprus, Libya, West Germany and Egypt-before taking an active part in overthrowing the Abboud regime in the uprising of October 1964. Arrested again, he was cleared after an investigation and posted to Western Command at Darfur. Two months later he was sent for nine months to the American Army Command School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where he gained a master’s degree in military science with distinction. On his return he was implicated in another abortive coup and spent a year in the wilderness at Torit in the South before reaching the springboard position of Officer-in-Command of the Military School in Khartoum for the successful coup on May 25, 1969.
His main drive was concentrated on ending the 17-year war in the South. He authorised secret contacts with the Southern Sudan Liberation Movement. Vice-President Abel Alier became the negotiator. To facilitate negotiations Nimeri dismissed his pro-Egyptian defence Minister Major-General Khalid Hassan Abbas. Agreement was reached With the southern Sudanese at Addis Ababa on February 27, 1972. He then Rave top priority to the pacification Process and reconstruction in the South.
In 24 hours without a single casualty he was master of the Sudan as president of the Revolutionary Command Council, Commander-in-Chief and Defence Minister, having promoted himself from colonel to major-general. The figurehead position of Prime Minister he gave to Abu Bakr Awadullah, a left-wing former Chief Justice.
Nimeri’s overthrow of the civilian regime headed by President Ismail al Azhari and Prime Minister Mohammed Ahmed Mahgoub was resented by the conservative Ansars about 30% of the population led by Umma Party chief Sadik el Mahdi, great grandson of the Mahdi. To meet their challenge he leaned heavily on the Communists, giving them three cabinet posts. Their influence increased in the cabinet reshuffle on October 28, 1969, when Nimeri took over the premiership. A showdown with the Ansars came in March 1970 when they mustered 30,00 men at Aba Island. Nimeri sent in his toughest units and 1,000 Ansars were believed to have died in the fighting.
This success gave Nimeri a brief period of internal stability, which he used to try his hand as a Middle East peacemaker. After an Arab summit in Cairo he led a delegation on September 26, 1970, in a bid to stop King Hussein of Jordan wiping out Palestine guerrillas. The death of President Nasser of Egypt two days later ended Nimeri s role as a mediator.
At home the Communist challenge came into the open in December 1970 when he dismissed three leading members of the Revolutionary Command Council—Colonel Babakr al-Nur, Major Faruk Hamadallah and Major Mohammed al-Atta, who were responsible for the take-over bid six months later. Nimeri warned on February 12, 1971: “From now on anyone who claims to be a Communist or to belong to the Communist Party in the Sudan will be crushed.”