ABSTRACT
A military junta composed of fifteen junior officers and calling itself the National Salvation Revolution Command Council (NSRCC or RCC) made it clear that it had acted to eliminate an irresolute government. Indeed, many of Umar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir's statements condemning the political parties for failing the people were taken directly from the military's February 1989 ultimatum, which Bashir had reportedly signed. The NSRCC published a document more pragmatic than ideological, deploring the absence of an effective security apparatus and blaming. The Sudan People's Armed Forces (SPAF) defeats on an impecunious government. The Egyptian military attache had been the first foreigner contacted by the junta, and the Egyptian ambassador was the first member of the diplomatic corps to meet with Bashir. Egypt's Middle East News Agency introduced Bashir as a moderate and pro-Egyptian; and given such signs, other embassies were quick to assume that the NSRCC would work closely with Egypt and the West.
