Word: khartoum
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...during the brief period two weeks ago when it looked as if the Sudan might fall under the control of a pro-Communist regime, Egypt's leaders moved swiftly to prevent that from happening. They airlifted some 2,000 Sudanese troops from positions along the Suez Canal to Khartoum to ensure the success of General Numeiry's countercoup, flying them there in Soviet-supplied Antonov transports. According to a Cabinet Minister from neighboring Libya, both Egypt and Libya were preparing to intervene if the countercoup failed...
...concept of multiparty government. In most Middle East nations, there is no room for a loyal opposition; the terms are mutually contradictory in a society where "the enemy of my enemy is my friend." The idea of an opposition party committed to Moscow rather than Cairo or Tripoli or Khartoum is totally unacceptable...
Egyptian President Anwar Sadat felt impelled to intervene. He telephoned Sudan's President, Major General Jaafar Numeiry, in Khartoum and offered a bit of advice: spare the life of Shafie Ahmed Sheikh, secretary-general of the Sudan's federation of trade unions, winner of the Lenin Peace Prize and a leader of the Arab world's strongest Communist Party (6,000 active members). Coolly, Numeiry said he would have been delighted to comply with the Egyptian request except for one thing -Sheikh had been hanged two hours before the telephone call...
...least 1,000 had been arrested by week's end. Among those executed were two officers who had been pulled off a British airplane two weeks ago by Libyan Leader Muammar Gaddafi and handed over to Numeiry. Lieut. Colonel Babakr al Nour, who had been flying home to Khartoum from London, denied prior knowledge of the plot against Numeiry. Then why had Nour been named leader of the new rebel government? Numeiry asked. "Was it because of your beautiful brown eyes?" Unable to answer, Nour was led away and shot at the Shajara army camp outside Khartoum...
Russian Protest. The executions had international repercussions. The Soviets could scarcely ignore the attack on an important Middle Eastern Communist party, especially since Communism has such an uncertain hold in the area (see box). Moscow officially warned Khartoum against what it called "the impermissibility of resorting to extreme measures"-a hint that the some 1,000 East bloc technicians working in the Sudan might be recalled...