Jaafar Nimeiry

Gaafar Muhammad an-Nimeiry (otherwise spelled in English as Gaafar Nimeiry, Jaafar Nimeiry, or Ja'far Muhammad Numayri; جعفر محمد النميري; 1 January 1930 – 30 May 2009 ) was a Sudanese politician who served as the fourth head of state of Sudan from 1969 to 1985, first as Chairman of the National Revolutionary Command Council and then as President.

He then studied at Khartoum University College, but, as he desired a military career, he eventually graduated from the War College in Omdurman in 1952.

He was accused in 1957 of orchestrating a coup d'état against the Sudanese government, but there was not enough evidence to prove that he was involved.

He was interrogated again about a failed coup attempt led by an officer named Khalid Yusuf, but the investigation did not find anything to criminalize Nimeiry in the attempted coup.

He also earned a Master of Military Science from Army Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, United States in 1966.

Nimeiri moved on to different positions in the Sudanese Army.

On 28 December 1966, Lieutenant Hussein Osman with other young Communist officers tried to seize the presidential palace and the central post office, but failed.

Among the 400 people arrested after the coup attempt failed was Colonel Gaafar Nimeiry, then commanding the Eastern Command.

He was released on 9 January 1967 and transferred to command the infantry school.

A military officer, he came to power after a military coup in 1969.

Establishing a one-party state, with his Sudanese Socialist Union as the sole legal political entity in the country, Nimeiry pursued socialist and Pan-Arabist policies and close collaboration with Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt and Muammar Gaddafi of Libya.

On 25 May 1969, together with four other officers, Colonel Nimeiry, commanding the Khartoum Garrison, overthrew the civilian government of Ismail al-Azhari, his coup being termed the "May Revolution".

He created and chaired the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC).

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-Arabist reforms.

In March–April 1970 Nimeiry ordered an aerial bombardment on Aba Island which killed several thousand Ansar, who were associated with the Umma Party which opposed him.

O'Ballance writes that about 4,000 troops, plus tanks, stormed Aba Island on 30 March, supported by aircraft.

In 1970 Nimeiry successfully weathered a coup attempt by former Prime Minister and Umma Party leader Sadiq Al-Mahdi, and in 1971 was briefly removed from power by a Communist coup, before being restored.

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.

In 1971 Nimeiry survived a pro-Soviet coup attempt, after which he forged an alliance with Mao Zedong of China, and, eventually, with the United States as well.

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 which he declared to be the only legal political organization.

During the 1971 coup attempt, Nimeiry jumped out the window of the place where he was incarcerated when his supporters came to rescue him.

After this coup, he started to move away from Soviet influence and began to receive arms from the US and Maoist China.

In 1972 he signed the Addis Ababa Agreement, ending the First Sudanese Civil War.

In 1972 he signed the Addis Ababa Agreement whereby autonomy was granted to the non-Muslim 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 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 MiG-19 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.

In 1973 he drafted a new constitution which declared Sudan to be a democratic, socialist state and gave considerable power to the office of President.

In late 1975, a 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.

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."

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.

In his last years in power he also adopted aspects of Islamism, and in 1983 he imposed Sharia law throughout the country, precipitating the Second Sudanese Civil War.

He was ousted from power in 1985 and went into exile in Egypt.

Sudanese collaboration with China continued even after Nimeiry was overthrown in 1985.

He returned in 1999 and unsuccessfully ran in the presidential elections in 2000.

Nimeiry was educated at the Omdurman primary and elementary school, then in Wad Madani secondary school, and finally in Hantub school that had a British colonial character.