The World - News from July 17, 1989

Sudan’s new military leader has asked Moscow to equip his armed forces with sophisticated weapons, according to a published report. Lt. Gen. Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir, who toppled Prime Minister Sadek Mahdi’s civilian government on June 30, was quoted by the Kuwait daily Al Siyasah as saying that he asked “the Soviet charge d’affaires in Khartoum to relay our request to the Soviet leadership for modernizing the Sudanese army’s weaponry. We also expressed our desire to return our relationship with the Soviet Union to its pre-1970 level.” That year, a pro-Soviet officer, Maj. Hashem Atta, staged an abortive coup against then-President Jaafar Numeiri.