The World - News from Feb. 23, 1989

Sudan’s military commander and 150 other army officers have given Prime Minister Sadek Mahdi one week to reform his government and work to end the nation’s civil war, newspapers reported. A military spokesman said the officers submitted “certain demands” in a memorandum, but he would not characterize it as a coup threat. Newspapers said Gen. Fathi Ahmed Ali and the other officers drafted a memorandum in which they warned the government to “choose between war and peace, and prepare properly for its choice.” The reports appeared one day after the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army said its forces had shelled an army stronghold and major refugee center in the south.