Sudan Regime Orders Numeiri Aides Arrested : One Day After Coup, Life Is Reportedly Returning to Normal

The new military government of Sudan, in its second day in office after toppling President Jafaar Numeiri, on Sunday ordered the arrest of all of Numeiri’s top lieutenants, according to information received by the Sudanese Embassy here.

While regular telephone and most other communications links with the Sudanese capital remained cut Sunday, radio messages from the Foreign Ministry in Khartoum told Sudanese diplomats here that security forces of the new regime have been ordered to round up all those who worked in key positions for Numeiri, apparently including all his Cabinet ministers and close advisers.

Reports out of Sudan indicated that life is returning to a semblance of normalcy in the wake of the coup, which came after more than a week of sometimes violent demonstrations in Khartoum. Foreign correspondents in both Nairobi and Cairo were informed that shops are open, city buses running and electrical power restored. The airport remained closed, however.

Numeiri remained in Egypt, where he had stopped on his way back to Sudan after a trip to Washington. The coup was announced in Khartoum at about the same time that Numeiri’s plane was landing Saturday in Cairo.

The new Sudanese leader, Gen. Abdul-Rahman Suwar Dahab, chose nine army officers and three civilians to form an interim Cabinet, according to a statement issued by the Sudanese Foreign Ministry.

Dahab, the armed forces commander in chief, was appointed defense minister three weeks ago by the man he deposed Saturday. In a broadcast immediately after the coup, the general said his action was taken “to comply with the wishes of the people,” adding that an interim government will be formed until “powers are transferred to the people.”

A report transmitted by radio to Kenya quoted unidentified witnesses as saying that the streets of Khartoum were filled with multitudes of happy Sudanese as news of Numeiri’s downfall spread. The crowds were said to have pulled down flags that Numeiri designed when he himself seized power in a coup 16 years ago and peeled Numeiri’s pictures from walls.

Mention of Southern Rebels

The new government appeared to be consolidating its position Sunday, with the Foreign Ministry in Khartoum reporting that Dahab has urged citizens to return to their jobs. The new government also said it will undertake measures to reach a peaceful settlement with rebels who have been fighting Numeiri’s government in the south and added that it wants to improve relations with neighboring states.

No countries were mentioned by name, but the statement probably referred to Libya and Ethiopia.

President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt said in Cairo that Egypt “stands in support of the Sudanese people,” indicating that Egypt intends to keep up its close ties with its southern neighbor.

The Sudanese ambassador to Kenya, Ibrahim Taha Ayub, said the Foreign Ministry’s list of those to be arrested by the new government includes top-ranking figures in the formerly ruling political party, the Sudanese Socialist Union.

The ambassador further quoted the Foreign Ministry statement as saying that the Sudanese Bureau of State Security, a secret police-type organization, is to be dissolved immediately. The step was announced in a decree from Sudanese army headquarters, which said that the army will take over all the security bureau’s “facilities, files, documents and weapons.”

Prime Candidate for Arrest

The police bureau had been headed by Sudan’s vice president, Omar Tayeb, although the army statement made no mention of him. “I would imagine that he was one of the first to be arrested,” Ayub said.

The list of those arrested would presumably include Baha Idris, a close associate of Numeiri and widely regarded as one of the most corrupt figures in his government. The statement from Khartoum suggested that some arrests were already made, beginning at dawn Sunday, but did not identify any of those taken into custody.

The new government has not yet indicated whether it plans to revoke the strict Islamic law code imposed by Numeiri in September, 1983. Islamic law was a major factor in exacerbating the tensions between the Muslim north of Sudan and the non-Muslim south. The move also brought Sudan’s troubled economy even deeper problems, which were a major factor in growing popular dissatisfaction with Numeiri’s government.

Protests against his regime began about 10 days ago, after price increases in gasoline and food. The price of gasoline nearly doubled and the price of bread went up by one-third. Just before these price rises were announced, Numeiri left Khartoum for a visit to the United States. There, he had an annual physical examination and met in Washington with President Reagan and briefly Friday with Secretary of State George P. Shultz. He also saw officers of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

The United States was urging Sudan to accept an IMF package of economic reforms, including the price increases.

Protests, Then Action

Some observers believe the price increases merely provided the initial excuse for the first groups of protesters, mainly from the university, to take to the streets of the capital. As the protests grew, they shifted to focus on Numeiri and his Cabinet. The demonstrations spread to the middle class, long alienated from Numeiri’s rule.

As the protests gathered momentum, the army rescinded the price increases. However, the unrest continued, culminating in a general strike that all but shut down the capital by Thursday.

Numeiri left Washington Friday night for an overnight flight to Khartoum, by way of Cairo. According to some accounts, he shortened his planned U.S. visit by a day, and his talk with Secretary of State Shultz to only 45 minutes.

According to Sudanese Embassy officials in Nairobi, Dahab and his top officers held an emergency meeting early Saturday morning before Numeiri arrived in Cairo, deciding then to intervene and prevent his return.

Even after he landed in Cairo and heard the news of the coup, Numeiri was apparently determined to continue on to his capital, seemingly convinced that at least part of the army would remain loyal to him if he could get back.

A spokesman for the Sudanese Embassy in Nairobi said that the pilot of the presidential plane finally halted Numeiri’s return, saying the aircraft could be shot down if he tried to land at Khartoum. The spokesman said Numeiri then suggested that the plane be flown to a military airfield instead of Khartoum’s international airport, but the pilot declined.

“That pilot is our hero today,” the Sudanese Embassy official said. “If Numeiri had come back, he would have divided the army, and a big fight would have followed.”