U.S. Concerned by Sudan’s Overtures to Libya, Ethiopia

Reagan Administration officials are becoming increasingly concerned about what some call the unsettling overtures made by the new government of Sudan--a nation long courted by the United States--toward controversial Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi and Ethiopia’s Marxist regime.

“The fabric of American friendship (with Sudan) could be coming unwound,” cautioned one Administration official, speaking on the condition that he not be identified. “They’re reaching out to Libya.”

Sudan’s importance to the United States is both historical and current. The Khartoum government has long been a friend of America in a region where alliances have shifted and where many nations have maintained their distance from U.S. policies.

Sudan is considered a moderate. On the edge of the Middle East, it lies on the shores of the Red Sea and near the Horn of Africa, and it was the site of a $900-million oil exploration project by Chevron Corp. that was shut down after repeated rebel attacks.

Recent messages sent to the State Department from U.S. diplomats in Khartoum report a “standoffish” attitude by the Sudanese government toward the United States, according to the Administration official, who has seen the cables.

At the same time, he said, the new government is openly making overtures to the Libyans and Ethiopians, suggesting a shift that “the diplomats consider unsettling.”

“If they fall into each other’s arms, there’s been a real sea change--and we have something to worry about,” one expert on African affairs warned.

For years, the United States has worried about Kadafi’s efforts to expand his influence over Africa and the Middle East. Another source familiar with the region observed: “I don’t think anybody out there loves Kadafi.”

Maneuvers a Test

One possible early manifestation of any shift could occur this summer when “Operation Brightstar,” a large annual U.S. military exercise, is scheduled. In the past, the operation has been staged in Sudan, Egypt, Somalia and Oman--but this year the Sudanese may not take part, the Administration official said.

If the Sudanese “haven’t backed out, they’re making noises” as though they will not participate in the military maneuvers, the official said. Each year, several hundred Green Berets have been involved in counterinsurgency exercises in Sudan.

The United States is not alone in its growing anxiety over Sudan’s ties with Libya; Egypt, too, has expressed concern about the new direction for its neighbor to the south. Both Washington and Cairo had maintained a long, close relationship with the government of President Jaafar Numeiri, who was overthrown last month while he was returning from a White House visit with President Reagan.

Only days before the April 6 coup, the United States had granted a $67-million aid package to Numeiri’s government.

Still, leaders of the new military regime in Khartoum have “again and again stated their desire to maintain close ties with us,” State Department spokesman Beatrice Russell said. Similarly, another State Department official, speaking anonymously, conceded that “there is no evidence the Sudanese are going to sacrifice their relations with the West for the sake of normalizing relations with Libya.”

Libyans Visit Sudan

But this official also noted that Kadafi’s chief deputy and the Libyan foreign minister visited Khartoum earlier this week and that other delegations have been exchanged.

“I don’t know whether you call that courting or normalization,” the official said, acknowledging that the Sudanese government under Gen. Abdul-Rahman Suwar Dahab is seeking improved diplomatic relations with its two key neighbors, Libya and Ethiopia.

“People do get concerned about Kadafi,” he said. But he added: “These guys in Khartoum are not exactly babes in the wood.”

Besides reviving its diplomatic ties with Libya two weeks ago, Sudan also has dispatched an envoy to Addis Ababa, apparently in an effort to enlist the Marxist Ethiopian government’s help in ending the two-year-old rebellion in southern Sudan.

The rebel movement is believed to be funded by Ethiopia and perhaps Libya, and “the question of trying to turn off the sources of supply would be on the minds of the Sudanese leadership,” the expert on African affairs said.

Nonetheless, this expert said, any shift in Sudanese policy may be part of an effort by the new government to try to live with Kadafi without necessarily falling into his sphere of influence.

“The Sudanese have been pretty hard-headed,” he said. “If I were in their boots, I would be somehow trying to neutralize him.