Coup Atlas Research Database
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62511222012ConspiracyMilitary coup

Sudan, 2012 — military coup conspiracy

Sudan (SDN)North Africa, AfricaNovember 22, 2012

Event Summary

This entry is coded 22 November 2012, corresponding to the 2012 Sudanese coup attempt against President Omar al-Bashir. On Thursday 22 November 2012 the government arrested some thirteen to fourteen people over an alleged plot to overthrow the government, which the National Intelligence and Security Service said it had pre-emptively foiled at the zero hour. Among those detained were high-ranking military and security officers, most prominently Major General Salah Abdullah Mohammed, widely known as Salah Gosh, who had headed the intelligence service from 2002 to 2009 before being sacked as security adviser in April 2011 after becoming critical of the regime, and Brigadier General Mohamed Ibrahim, known as Wad Ibrahim, a former chief of Bashir's presidential security.

Gosh's parliamentary immunity was lifted the next day and he was stripped of his ruling-party titles. The alleged plot came amid a deepening economic crisis following South Sudan's 2011 independence and the loss of oil revenue, wrangling within the military, and growing Islamist dissent inside the ruling National Congress Party. The 22 November 2012 coding matches the arrests.

Researched Details

Researched

Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: Bashir's security service arrested the alleged plotters, including ex-spy chief Salah Gosh
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
President Omar al-Bashir (target)
former intelligence chief Salah Gosh
former presidential security chief Mohamed Ibrahim (Wad Ibrahim)

Sources

Thursday 22 November 2012 saw the arrest of 14 people by the Sudanese government suspected of planning a subversive attempt to overthrow the government, which was pre-emptively foiled at the zero hour by the National Intelligence and Security Service, and among those arrested were high-ranking military and security officers.
SOURCE REVIEWED ISS Africa: The attempted coup d'etat in Sudan open source ↗
One of the two more eminent detainees was Major-General Salah Abdullah Mohammed, better known as Salah Gosh, head of the NISS from 2002 to August 2009, whose immunity as a member of parliament was lifted on 23 November 2012 after he was stripped of all his titles in the National Congress Party.
SOURCE REVIEWED ISS Africa: The attempted coup d'etat in Sudan open source ↗
The 2012 Sudanese coup attempt on 22 November 2012 against President Omar al-Bashir started as an attempt to overthrow the government amid serious conflicts, upheavals, and worsening conditions, and 13 people were arrested including former NISS director Salah Gosh.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia: 2012 Sudanese coup attempt open source ↗
Salah Gosh and others were arrested on suspicion of inciting chaos, targeting some leaders, and spreading rumors about Bashir's health, amid an economic crisis after South Sudan's independence that analysts said had exacerbated divisions in the government.
SOURCE REVIEWED Arab News: Sudan says arrests ex-spy chief after foiled plot open source ↗

Editorial Note

Coded 22 Nov 2012 matches the arrests exactly (Gosh's immunity lifted 23 Nov). Verified as the 2012 Sudanese coup attempt. Seventh Sudan record in the run.

Cross-Reference

Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.

Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:

Cline Center id
62511222012

How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Bashir's security service arrested the alleged plotters, including ex-spy chief Salah Gosh.

Baseline coding: Plot discovered and disrupted before execution. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; 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
⚑ This citation establishes the coded baseline record; use the claim-level sources above for the researched narrative.

Baseline Source-Document Entries

Powell and Thyne

Named in the baseline source document; no article citation was recorded.

The Times

“Former spy chief held over ‘coup plot’,” November 23, 2012

The Herald

“Sudan authorities foil military coup,” November 23, 2012

The Daily Telegraph

“Sudanese opposition arrested over ‘coup’: World Bulletin,” November 23, 2012

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 →

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