islamism & thE statE 167- Utilizing their freedom of action and the cover of religious advocacy
activities, the IM sought to penetrate the armed forces using various
channels and techniques and the first cell of the Islamist officers appeared
around 1980/81. Between 1981 and 1985 the cells of the Islamist officers
grew considerably but not at the same pace as the Islamist movement at
large. After the intifada, the IM intensified its efforts in officer recruitment,
taking advantage of the relatively relaxed atmosphere of the parliamen-
tary period, the growing politicization of the army, its tough militarist
stand toward the war in the south, and its huge financial resources. By
early 1989, the Islamist movement was ready to stage the coup.
On June 30, 1989, the Islamist officers in the army, led by Brigadier
Omar Hassan al-Bashir and supported by about 200 members of the
Islamic Movement’s militia, succeeded in executing a bloodless military
coup that toppled the government of Sadiq al-Mahdi and terminated the
parliamentary regime. As a precaution, the new regime did not clearly
declare its political or ideological affiliation on seizing power, but simply
referred to itself as the Revolution of National Salvation (thawrat al-inqaz
al-watani). Though the deception went as far as placing Turabi in detention
alongside other political leaders, the politicized sectors of the Sudanese
public quickly came to the conclusion that the new regime was closely
connected to the Islamists. Henceforth, the regime installed in the June
30th coup became known, particularly among the opposition circles, as
the NIF regime.
The military takeover of June 1989 presented the Islamists with the
challenge of adjusting to the new realities of a movement in power. As
pointed out above, prior to 1989 the political organ of the Islamists was
the NIF, which was an umbrella organization built around the Islamic
Movement core. In organizational terms the IM existed as a separate
structure from the NIF, though its members, or most of them, were
also NIF members. After the military coup of June 1989, the NIF was
formally dissolved along with all other political parties. This decision
was apparently endorsed by the NIF’s Shura Council, which met and
formally decided to disband itself and the organization to avoid causing
The Sudan Handbook, edited by John Ryle, Justin Willis, Suliman Baldo and Jok Madut Jok. © 2011 Rift Valley Institute and contributors ‘an embarrassment to the government’. As regards the IM – which was
(www.riftvalley.net).