Communists Help Col. Nimeiri to Seize Power

In May 1969, the then Officer-in-Command of the Khartoum garrison, Col. (later Field-Marshal) Jaafar Mohammed al-Nimeiri (also spelt "Numeiry"), with the help of communist soldiers and civilians, staged a coup and seized power. With the connivance of the Sudanese Communist Party, Nimeiri banned all political parties. But the Sudanese Communist Party continued to function with covert countenance of Nimeiri-who had also appointed several communists in his cabinet (the Revolutionary Command Council). Nimeiri needed the support of the communists because he was facing fierce opposition from the anti-communist Sadiq al-Mahdi and his many followers.
 
 
 
In the first two years of his rule. President Nimeiri pursued socialist policies. He founded his own political party, the Sudanese Socialist Union (SSU). His government nationalised private companies in scores, and forged closer ties with Communist countries.
In March 1970, the conservatives, led by the aristocratic Mahdi clan, mustered some 30,000 men for a showdown with Nimeiri. The Sudanese army routed the rebels. With the defeat of the conservatives, the strongest enemy of the rule of Nimeiri was hamstrung. Next, Nimeiri had to get rid of the communists, albeit at a high cost.

National Movements and New States in Africa