Sudanese Defense Agreement with Egypt
SUMMARY
In 1969, Colonel Jaafar an Nimeiri led a successful military coup d’état
in Sudan. His foreign policy relied heavily on close relations with
Egypt and active backing by the United States. By 1974, Nimeiri and
President Anwar al-Sadat of Egypt had signed an integration pact.
This was followed two years later with this joint military defense
alliance. Also in 1976, Syria and Egypt established a unified political
command for military decision making; and in February 1977, Sudan
was added to the unified political command following the ratification
of this Egyptian-Sudanese treaty.
Ties between Egypt and Sudan continued to grow. Nimeiri was one of
the few Arab leaders to back Sadat’s Israeli peace process. Sadat’s suc-
cessor, Hosni Mubarak, advanced bilateral relations when he and
Nimeiri established a comprehensive integration charter in 1982. The
Egypt-Sudan alliance became so formidable that it partially provoked
the formation of a counteralliance comprising Libya, Ethiopia, and
South Yemen (see Alliance no. 4.1423).
In 1985, Nimeiri was thrown from office and sought asylum in Egypt.
While in Egypt, Nimeiri remained politically active and created con-
troversy for Sudan. The Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA)
demanded that Sudan abrogate the treaty with Egypt, and Nimeiri’s
political activism only made the problem worse. Finally, on June 10,
1989, Sudan abrogated the joint defense treaty with Egypt in order to
continue negotiations with Sudanese rebels. Sudan stated that the
alliance had become suspect since the Nimeiri regime had been ousted
from power. The abrogation also occurred as Sudan was working to
improve its image among its neighbors.
Alliance Text
In response to the viewpoints of the two fraternal peoples: pro-
ceeding from their unshakeable belief in their common destiny
and interests; in coordination of their efforts to guarantee and
safeguard their safety and security; in strengthening their
defense capabilities vis-á-vis the challenges which the Arab
nation is confronting at the present stage of the joint Arab
struggle to liberate the land and regain the usurped right; in
deepening the cooperation which was the aim of the joint
defense and economic cooperation treaty signed on 17 June
1950 by the members of the Arab League; inspired by the noble
objectives of the OAU Charter signed in May 1963; and inspired
by the program of political action and economic integration
signed on 12 February 1974; the Governments of the Arab
Republic of Egypt and the Democratic Republic of the Sudan
have agreed to conclude a joint defense pact to bring about
these objectives, as follows:
Article 1. The two contracting parties consider any armed
aggression against either of them or their armed forces an
aggression against both of them. Therefore, in accordance with
the legitimate right of single or group defense stipulated in the
UN charter and the Arab League Charter, each of them is com-
mitted to assist the other state in case of aggression against it.
The two states shall immediately take all measures together and
will use all the means they possess, including the use of the
armed forces, to deter and repulse the aggression.
Article 2. The two states shall exchange information and
consult each other at the request of either of them in case of the
danger of the outbreak of war, or when a sudden aggression
occurs, or in the case of an emergency portending danger. The
two states shall immediately unify their plans and movements.
Article 3. To guarantee the effectiveness of the pact, the two
sides shall coordinate plans and methods for developing their
armed forces in a manner that will insure the mastery of the
most sophisticated weapons.
Article 4. The two contracting countries have decided to
establish bodies which shall insure the implementation of the
pact. The bodies should include: a) a joint defense council, and
b) a joint staff command.
Article 5. a) The Defense Council shall consist of the foreign
and war ministers of the two countries, and shall be the highest
authority of the joint staff command; and b) the responsibilities
of the Defense Council shall include the following:- To draw up the general bases and principles for a policy
of cooperation between the two countries in all fields in
order to ward off and prevent any aggression on them. - To draw up the necessary recommendations for direct-
ing and coordinating the two countries’ activities to
serve joint war efforts. - To endorse the responsibilities of the joint staff com-
mand. - The council shall meet once every 6 months in Cairo
and in Khartoum alternatively, or when either of the
two sides feel that circumstances call for a meeting.
Article 6. a) The joint staff command shall be made up of
the armed forces chiefs of staff of the two countries and an
equal number of staff officers from each of the two countries,
the number to be decided by the Defense Council; b) The staff
command shall be concerned with drawing up plans and stud-
ies that will raise the armed forces’ combat competency of both
countries, by developing them in the armament and training
fields, and by submitting any of these plans and studies which
need to be submitted to the Defense council for endorsement;
c) The command shall meet every 3 months or when consid-
ered necessary, at the request of either of the two countries’
chiefs of staff.
Article 7. the duration of the pact shall be 25 years, and it will
be automatically renewed every 5 years as long as neither of the
contracting countries notifies the other of its wish to withdraw
from the pact 1 year before its due date of expiration.
Article 8. The pact shall be endorsed according to the consti-
tutional requirements of each of the two contracting countries.
The ratification documents shall be exchanged at the Foreign
Ministry of the Democratic Republic of Sudan and shall come
into force as of the date the exchange has been effected.
In confirmation of the above, the pact has been signed and
sealed with the two countries’ seals.
This pact was drafted in Alexandria on 18 Rajab 1396
Hegira, corresponding to 15 July, 1976 in two original copies.
[Signed] Muhammad Anwar as-Sadat, president of
the Arab Republic of Egypt; and