On July 19, 1971 Major Hashem al-Atta led a communist-backed coup that briefly overthrew Sudan's President Gaafar Nimeiry, seizing the presidential palace and holding him prisoner before a counter-coup restored him three days later. Nimeiry, who had taken power in 1969 in alliance with the Sudanese Communist Party, had by early 1971 turned against the SCP, demanding it dissolve into his single-party system and, in February 1971, ordering the arrest of its leadership. In response, communist-aligned officers struck preemptively.
On the afternoon of July 19, taking advantage of the siesta quiet in Khartoum, al-Atta moved tanks around government buildings, captured the presidential palace, and took Nimeiry and dozens of his followers prisoner, proclaiming a new Revolutionary Council of himself, Colonel Babikir al-Nur Osman, and Major Farouk Hamadallah, and lifting the ban on the SCP. But the coup had a narrow base in a devoutly Muslim country wary of communism, and it alarmed neighboring states. Egypt and Libya intervened for Nimeiry; Gaddafi's forces intercepted the airliner carrying al-Nur and Hamadallah back from London.
Within three days, loyal troops freed Nimeiry.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Target identified in Coup Atlas research: President Gaafar Nimeiry, deposed and taken prisoner on July 19, 1971; he was held for three days but not physically harmed and was restored by the counter-coup.
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Gaafar Nimeiry (president briefly deposed and imprisoned)
Hashem al-Atta (major who led the coup)
Babikir al-Nur Osman and Farouk Hamadallah (Revolutionary Council members)
Sources
Major Hashem al-Atta led a coup in Sudan on 19 July 1971 against the government of President Gaafar Nimeiry; led by officers associated with the Sudanese Communist Party, it briefly toppled the administration and established a Revolutionary Council, but failed to garner sufficient support, and after three days in captivity Nimeiry loyalists launched a successful counter-coup, freeing the deposed president and dismantling al-Atta's government.
The coup began in the mid-afternoon of 19 July 1971, taking advantage of the quiet of the traditional afternoon siesta, when Major Hashem al-Atta moved tanks into positions around government buildings, captured the Presidential Palace, and took Nimeiry and several dozen of his followers prisoner, immediately declaring himself, Colonel Babikir al-Nur Osman, and Major Farouk Hamadallah in charge and lifting the ban Nimeiry had placed on the SCP.
On 19 July 1971 a group of army officers led by Major Hashem al-Atta launched a coup against the Nimeiry government, but Nimeiry loyalists retook the capital Khartoum three days later, freed Nimeiry, and restored his government; as many of the conspirators were members of the SCP, Nimeiry blamed the party and executed several of its leaders.
SOURCE REVIEWEDWikipedia, Sudanese Communist Partyopen source ↗
The coup possessed a narrow support base since most Sudanese were devout Muslims who considered communism abhorrent, and the prospect of a communist state on the Red Sea alarmed neighbors, prompting Egypt's Sadat to order troops to resist and Libya's Gaddafi to dispatch fighter planes to intercept the British Airways jetliner on which al-Nur and Hamadallah were returning to Khartoum.
Paired record care: this July 19 record is al-Atta's communist-backed coup that briefly ousted Nimeiry; the companion record 1971-07-22 is Nimeiry's counter-coup, which carried a killed fate for the coup leaders (see that record), and the two are distinct dataset events. Fate coding: Nimeiry was deposed and imprisoned for three days but not physically harmed, matching the dataset fate for this record. Arc link: this connects to Nimeiry's own May 25, 1969 coup (enriched in batch 21); the July 1971 episode ruptured his alliance with the Sudanese Communist Party. Foreign role: Egyptian and Libyan intervention for Nimeiry is documented and stated as fact, with the disputed question of Soviet involvement (which Nimeiry alleged but later investigations doubted) noted as contested.
Cross-Reference
Datasets agree. At least two of the three reference datasets we check against carry this event, and none of them disagrees about its date or its result.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Gaafar Nimeiry, deposed and taken prisoner on July 19, 1971; he was held for three days but not physically harmed and was restored by the counter-coup..
Baseline coding: Incumbent executive removed from power. Recorded leader fate: deposed; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
“Nimeiry Is Sworn in Sudan As First Elected President,” October 13, 1971
This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →