At the beginning of the eighties the regime of Ǧ. Numayrī, both in order to find help to deal with the economic crisis, and to overcome the tensions and turmoil in the South, and, finally, to alleviate the problem of about half a million refugees from Ethiopia fighting against the Eritrean rebels, towards strengthening the agreement with Egypt and seeking the support of the United States. To facilitate the decentralization of government powers, the National People’s Assembly (renewed in December of the same year) and the Regional Assembly for the South (renewed in April 1982) were dissolved in October 1981. On 12 October 1982 Numayrī tried to strengthen the stability of the government by signing in Khartoum with M.Ḥ. Mubārak, an “Integration Charter” which should have promoted numerous common institutions between Sudan and Egypt. On April 15, 1983, despite rumors of plots and mutinies, Numayrī was elected president for the third time with over 99% of the votes. However, although the government attempted in August 1984 to obtain the support of the West and of the coastal countries, the general condition of uncertainty and difficulty was accentuated, especially because, at the requests of Islamic fundamentalist circles in favor of the promulgation of a Koranic, the unrest and insurrectional movements of the South with a Christian and animist majority were added. Numayrī was elected president for the third time with over 99% of the votes. However, although the government attempted in August 1984 to obtain the support of the West and of the coastal countries, the general condition of uncertainty and difficulty was accentuated, especially because, at the requests of Islamic fundamentalist circles in favor of the promulgation of a Koranic, the unrest and insurrectional movements of the South with a Christian and animist majority were added. Numayrī was elected president for the third time with over 99% of the votes. However, although the government attempted in August 1984 to obtain the support of the West and of the coastal countries, the general condition of uncertainty and difficulty was accentuated, especially because, at the requests of Islamic fundamentalist circles in favor of the promulgation of a Koranic, the unrest and insurrectional movements of the South with a Christian and animist majority were added.
On April 6, 1985, a coup d’état run by democratic-inspired military currents led by gen. Sawwār al-Ḏahab overthrew the Numayrī regime, which took refuge in Cairo. On March 3, 1986, the revocation of the treaties for the merger with Egypt was proclaimed and free elections called in May, a coalition ministry was formed with Prime Minister Ṣādiq al-Mahdī, great-grandson of that Mahdī who had been the leader of the revolution of 1885, hereditary head of the Ansar brotherhood, founded by her ancestor, advocate of innovative Islam, and leader of the Umma Party(“Country”). The other formations present in the government were the Islamic National Front, an expression of the ” Muslim Brotherhood ”, led by Ḥasan al-Turābī, and the Democratic Unionist Party, linked to the al-H̱atimiyya brotherhood, under the direction of Muḥammad ῾Uṯmān al- Mirġanī. The main problems in which the government of Ṣadiq al-Mahdī found itself engaged were three: the increasingly acute economic crisis with a very heavy foreign debt, the resurgence of armed initiatives in the South, especially by the SPLA (Sudan People’s Liberation Army), commanded by J. Garang, and disagreements about the introduction in the state of Sari in, supported by the Islamic Front. Oriented to obtain support for Libya and Iran, the new government of the Sudan tried several times to resolve the emergency in the South, which among other things was estimated to cost 1 million dollars a day. On November 16, 1988, an agreement between the Democratic Unionist Party and the SPLA, concluded in Addis Ababa, outlined a path of understanding. On June 10, 1989, the government tried to implement the agreement, but at the end of the same month a bloodless coup d’état, by soldiers led by gen. ῾Umar Ḥasan Aḥmad al-Bašīr, overthrew the government. On the one hand, the new regime used force and immediately dissolved the parties, on the other hand it tried to gain consensus through a strong reference to Islam mainly by al-Turābī, leader of the fundamentalist movement. The favorable choice of Ṣaddām Ḥusayn in 1990-91, on the occasion of the Gulf War, also fits into this context.
On October 16, 1993, al-Bašīr was confirmed as Head of State by the Revolutionary Council. The internal situation, however, continued to be difficult due to the problem of refugees from other African countries, due to inflation (estimated at around 200%) and the persistence of the guerrilla warfare in the South. On the international level, the United States, although it decided to include the Sudan in the list of states that promoted terrorism, they avoided a too bitter clash with al-Bašīr, fearing that his fall would make the already precarious situation in the Red Sea area more difficult. In the southern areas there was a weakening of the guerrilla, due to the lack of external support and to the measures of February 1994 which revised the previous administrative subdivision. In relations with other African states,
