Gaafar Nimeiry

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Lore & Background

Nimeiry was educated at the Omdurman primary and elementary school, then at the Wad Madani secondary school, and finally at the Hantub school, which had a British colonial character. He briefly studied at Khartoum University College before pursuing a military career. He graduated from the War College in Omdurman in 1952. He later earned a Master of Military Science from the United States Army Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1966. Rising through the ranks of the Sudanese Army, Nimeiry was frequently suspected of anti-government plotting. He was accused of orchestrating a coup d'état in 1957, but insufficient evidence prevented a conviction. He was interrogated again regarding a failed coup led by Khalid Yusuf, but was cleared. On 28 December 1966, following another abortive coup by junior communist officers targeting the presidential palace, Nimeiry – then commanding the Eastern Command – was among the 400 individuals arrested. He was released on 9 January 1967 and subsequently assigned to command the infantry school.

Reader's Guide

Nimeiry's significance lies in his dramatic ideological shifts and their consequences for Sudan. On 25 May 1969, Colonel Nimeiry, commanding the Khartoum Garrison, partnered with other Free Officers to overthrow the civilian government of Ismail al-Azhari. He suspended the constitution, dissolved the National Assembly and all political parties, and established himself as Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council. Initially leftist, he appointed himself prime minister in October 1969 and launched an economic campaign marked by sweeping land reforms. In May and June 1970, he enacted extensive nationalizations of the banking sector, foreign-owned businesses, and domestic trading companies. To neutralize conservative opposition, he ordered an aerial bombardment on Aba Island in March 1970, killing thousands of Ansar followers. His alliance with the left ended after the 1971 communist-backed coup attempt, when he was restored to power with decisive military assistance from Libya's Muammar Gaddafi, who sent fighter aircraft to force down a British Airways jetliner carrying two of the coup's leaders. Nimeiry executed the central civilian leadership of the Sudanese left and shifted Sudan's alignment toward the United States, China, and conservative Arab states. In 1972, he signed the Addis Ababa Agreement, granting autonomy to the non-Muslim southern region and ending the First Sudanese Civil War. However, in September 1983, he unilaterally imposed Sharia law across the entire country, violating that agreement and reigniting the Second Sudanese Civil War against the Sudan People's Liberation Army led by John Garang. His regime became increasingly draconian, highlighted by the January 1985 execution of the peaceful Islamic reformist Mahmoud Mohammed Taha on charges of apostasy. Ousted in 1985 amid a severe economic crisis and widespread civil disobedience, he went into exile in Egypt. He returned to Sudan in 1999 and unsuccessfully ran in the 2000 presidential elections.

Did You Know?

• Nimeiry earned a Master of Military Science from the United States Army Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1966.
• He survived a communist-backed coup attempt in 1971 thanks to Libya's Muammar Gaddafi, who sent fighter aircraft to force down a British Airways jetliner carrying two of the coup's leaders.
• In March 1970, Nimeiry ordered an aerial bombardment on Aba Island, killing thousands of Ansar followers and their leader, Imam Al-Hadi al-Mahdi.
• To demonstrate his commitment to Sharia law in 1983, Nimeiry ceremonially dumped $11 million worth of alcohol into the Nile.
• US aid to Sudan increased to $254 million by 1985, financing the construction of rapid deployment bases and a CIA listening station near Port Sudan.