ABSTRACT
The Libyans were active in the west; they took bold, strategic advantage of the famine while US citizens, journalists in particular, were looking the other way. The void in the western desert that the Libyans planned to fill had been deepened by the drought and famine, which had forced the migration of Kababish tribespeople out of the area toward the Nile in the east and the savanna lands in the south in search of food and water. The Libyan convoy that stormed into El Fasher in August 1985 stayed for about a year. The Libyans had the advantage of driving through areas unaffected by flooding. However, no roads were available for much of the journey from Benghazi. As the Libyans proved, only an army could move supplies on land great distances in such a place, and the Sudanese army, strained to the limit battling the Sudanese People's Liberation Army, was practically useless—even more so after the coup.
