The Libyan–Sudanese relations refers to the long historical relations between
Libya
Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...
and
Sudan
Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...
, both are Arab countries.
Libya and Sudan share an isolated border along a corner of northwestern Sudan that neither government has ever fully controlled.
This state of affairs left open the possibility for a variety of real and perceived activities in the region that caused Khartoum to suspect that Libya periodically acted against its interests.
Conflict between Libya and Sudan has occurred intermittently since relations between the two countries began to deteriorate in 1972.
Under Colonel
Muammar Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (20 October 2011) was a Libyan military officer, revolutionary, politician and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until Killing of Muammar Gaddafi, his assassination by Libyan Anti-Gaddafi ...
Libya continued to pursue foreign policy directed along ideological and pragmatic lines.
This resulted in several instances of conflict between the two nations between 1972 and 1976. In 1976 Sudan charged that Libya was involved in a
terrorist
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...
plot against its government. This led to a severance of
relations
Relation or relations may refer to:
General uses
* International relations, the study of interconnection of politics, economics, and law on a global level
* Interpersonal relationship, association or acquaintance between two or more people
* ...
between the nations. In the late 1970s and 1980s Sudanese and Libyan foreign policy clashed over several regional conflicts. These included the
Chadian–Libyan conflict, the
Libyan–Egyptian War and Libyan support for
Uganda
Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...
n dictator
Idi Amin
Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 30 May 192816 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 until Uganda–Tanzania War, his overthrow in 1979. He ruled as a Military dictatorship, ...
.
In these cases Libya's conflict with Sudan resulted from Gaddafi's regional goals of
pan-Arabism
Pan-Arabism () is a Pan-nationalism, pan-nationalist ideology that espouses the unification of all Arabs, Arab people in a single Nation state, nation-state, consisting of all Arab countries of West Asia and North Africa from the Atlantic O ...
and was heavily influenced by relations with
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
.
[George Joffe, “Libya’s Saharan Destiny,” The Journal of North African Studies, 10, no. 3–4 (2005)] The Chadian–Libyan conflict in particular influenced the foreign policy of several African countries towards Libya. Pro-Libyan supporters were set against an anti-Libyan side which included Sudan and Egypt.
[Hussein Solomon and Gerrie Swart, “Libya’s Foreign Policy In Flux,” African Affairs, 104, no. 416, (2005)] Some
sub-Saharan countries, such as
Zaire
Zaire, officially the Republic of Zaire, was the name of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1971 to 18 May 1997. Located in Central Africa, it was, by area, the third-largest country in Africa after Sudan and Algeria, and the 11th-la ...
, supported the anti-Libyan forces in
Chad
Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...
out of fear of a Libyan expansion.
[Asteris Huliaras ,“Qadhafi's comeback: Libya and sub-Saharan Africa in the 1990s”, African Affairs 100, (2001)] In 1986 Libya assisted the Mahdi government under
Sadiq al-Mahdi
Sadiq al-Mahdi (; 25 December 1935 – 26 November 2020), also known as Sadiq as-Siddiq, was a Sudanese political and religious figure who was Prime Minister of Sudan from 1966 to 1967 and again from 1986 to 1989. He was head of the National Um ...
to assume power in Sudan, resuming relations between the two nations.
Mary-Jane Deeb
Mary-Jane Deeb is an American Middle East expert, librarian and novelist. Deeb worked at the Library of Congress, where she succeeded George Atiyeh as Chief of the African and Middle Eastern Division.
Life
Deeb's mother was Slovenian and her fat ...
, ''Libya’s Foreign Policy in North Africa'', Westview Press: United States After this point both nations employed markedly different foreign policy strategies. Sudan adopted a non-aligned course, trying to obtain western aid while building better relationships with Arab states. This included cooperative ties with Libya.
Libya began to pursue stronger regional connections, with Gaddafi attempting to increase his influence in the African continent. This changed the nature of relations between the two nations.
History
Early relationship
Between 1967 and 1971, Libya–Sudan relations was based on a foreign policy favoring
solidarity with other Arab countries.
In May 1969,
Gaafar Nimeiry
Gaafar Muhammad an-Nimeiry (otherwise spelled in English as Gaafar Nimeiry, Jaafar Nimeiry, or Ja'far Muhammad Numayri; ; 1 January 193030 May 2009) was a Sudanese military officer and politician who served as the fourth president of Sudan, hea ...
of Sudan managed a successful
coup d'état
A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup
, is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...
in Sudan. Later that same year, Muammar Gaddafi rose to power through a
coup d'état
A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup
, is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...
in Libya. He initially tried to strengthen ties with Sudan and Egypt, so much so that he proposed a federation with the individual states during his first two years in power. In August 1971, Colonel Gaddafi helped reverse a
communist coup against Sudanese President Nimeiry by diverting a British airliner carrying one of the coup's leaders and handing him over to Nimeiry to be hanged.
[John K. Cooley. “The Libyan Menace,” Foreign Policy, No. 42. (Spring, 1981)] However, a year later Sudan accused Libya of involvement in three successive coup attempts and subsequently severed diplomatic relations.
Later during the early 1970s,
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
Nimeiry began to pursue a foreign policy strategy which aligned Sudan with
Western powers
The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also constitute the West. ...
, which conflicted with Libyan interests, weaking relations between Sudan and Libya throughout the 1970s.
Subsequent to Libya's shaky alliance with the Nimeiry regime and Gaddafi's
attempt to replace it in 1976, Sudan sought out Egyptian protection to Libya's discomfort.
Relations between Libya and Sudan were in many respects a consequence of relations with Egypt.
In particular, the Libya-Egypt conflict in 1977 made relations between Sudan and Libya more tense. Sudan backed Egypt in this conflict and opposed Libyan military action.
Rifts and the 1970s
During the fall of 1977, Nimeiry and Sudanese opposition leaders began attempts at reconciliation.
Subsequently, starting in February 1978, Libya and Sudan agreed to resume relations. However, relations soon become strained after Gaddafi condemned Sudanese support for
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
Anwar Sadat
Muhammad Anwar es-Sadat (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until Assassination of Anwar Sadat, his assassination by fundame ...
of Egypt who signed the September 1978
Camp David Accords
The Camp David Accords were a pair of political agreements signed by Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin on 17 September 1978, following twelve days of secret negotiations at Camp David, the country retre ...
.
This difference of political and ideological position toward the situation in Israel, gave Gaddafi the encouragement to support plots against the Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat and Nimeiry.
[Oye Ogunbadejo. “Qaddafi and Africa’s International Relations,” The Journal of Modern African Studies, Vol. 24, No. 1 (Mar., 1986)]
Between 1978 and 1980 Gaddafi's
Islamic Legion of Arab and African “volunteers” trained in Libyan
guerrilla
Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, Partisan (military), partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include Children in the military, recruite ...
camps. They supported the factional fighting in
Chad
Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...
and assassinated political leaders in Chad who contested Libya's interference.
Throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s, Gaddafi employed
assassin
Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives.
Assassinations are orde ...
s to eradicate his enemies in Sudan,
Niger
Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...
,
Senegal
Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...
and
the Gambia
The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...
. It is also alleged that his assassins unsuccessfully attempted to kill
Hermann Eilts, former U.S. ambassador to Egypt.
Libya's foreign policy in the area became apparent when in 1979, Libyan forces unsuccessfully invaded Chad, marking the beginning of the Chadian-Libyan conflict.
The Chadian affair crystallized African attitudes toward Libya. Sudan's pro-Chadian stance during the conflict, would mark a significant point in the relations between Sudan and Libya.
When interviewed by a French press agency in late 1981, President
Gaafar Nimeiry
Gaafar Muhammad an-Nimeiry (otherwise spelled in English as Gaafar Nimeiry, Jaafar Nimeiry, or Ja'far Muhammad Numayri; ; 1 January 193030 May 2009) was a Sudanese military officer and politician who served as the fourth president of Sudan, hea ...
called for Gaddafi's death by whatever means possible, "even if it means drowning him in the sea or throwing him from an aeroplane." In the same interview, Nimeiry noted that his military was working with Egypt to formulate a plan to destroy Gaddafi's "subversive" influence.
1980s
Gaddafi, who has determined Libya's foreign policy since 1969, has consistently been a proponent of
Arab unity, the advancement of
Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
, the
Palestinian cause
Palestinian nationalism is the national movement of the Palestinian people that espouses self-determination and sovereignty over the region of Palestine.de Waart, 1994p. 223 Referencing Article 9 of ''The Palestinian National Charter of 19 ...
and anti-Western sentiments. He has also supported the elimination of Israel.
Hence, Gaddafi's antagonism towards Egypt was a response to Sadat's push for a separate peace with Israel. As an additional foreign policy point, Libyan actions in the region often signified strong expansionist aims. This provides the context for understanding how, in January 1981 Radio Tripoli announced the intended merger of Libya and Chad, after Gaddafi said that Chad was part of Libya's “vital living space.” This announcement alarmed neighboring African states including Sudan. They had already suffered from Gaddafi's participation in trying to disrupt the governments of Sudan, Egypt and
Tunisia
Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...
through coups and assassinations after failed attempts at unification.
By the end of January 1981, the
Organisation of African Unity
The Organisation of African Unity (OAU; , OUA) was an African intergovernmental organization established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 33 signatory governments. Some of the key aims of the OAU were to encourage political and ec ...
(OAU) formally condemned Libya's intentions for unification with Chad and asked Gaddafi to remove his troops from Chad immediately.
Gaddafi's resentment of Western influence in the region becomes apparent when in 1981
Chester Crocker
Chester Arthur Crocker (born October 29, 1941) is an American diplomat and scholar who served as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs from June 9, 1981, to April 21, 1989, in the Reagan administration. Crocker, architect of the U.S. p ...
, the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs announced that the US was willing to funnel military aid to any of Gaddafi's neighbors who saw the problem as they saw it.
This provided Sudan another avenue to obtain US foreign aid. Sudan received $250 million in economic and military aid in 1982, and more than $200 million in 1983 from the United States.
In 1983, six years after Nimeiry and Sudanese opposition leaders began attempts at reconciliation, opposition from the
Sudan People's Liberation Movement
The Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM; , ''Al-Ḥarakat ash-Shaʿbiyyat liTaḥrīr as-Sūdān'') is a political party in South Sudan. It was initially founded as the political wing of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA; a key belli ...
and its military wing, the
Sudan People's Liberation Army
The South Sudan People's Defence Forces (SSPDF), formerly the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), is the military force of South Sudan. The SPLA was founded as a guerrilla movement against the government of Sudan in 1983 and was a key parti ...
emerged against Nimeiry's northern focused policies. During this time, Libya's cooperative foreign policy towards Sudan had changed drastically since the early 1970s. While opposition to Nimeiry was mounting, Gaddafi provided financial and material support to these opposition groups and other anti-Nimeiry rebel groups and organizations, including
Anyanya II and the Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA).
While Gaddafi's foreign policy has been imbued with controversy and surprises, (a prime example relates to why Gaddafi, an Arab nationalist supported
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
, a primarily Christian African country, against Sudan (under Nimeiry), an Arab country with a Muslim majority)
Libya's support of anti-Nimeiry groups is understandable within the context of Libya's anti-western foreign policy and Nimeiry's support for the Camp David Accords.
Nimeiry prevailed against the 1983 Libyan backed opposition but relations between the two countries continued to suffer when in March 1984, Nimeiry claimed that a Libyan Air Force Plane, a Soviet-built Tupolev TU-22 bomber, based at an airfield in the Al Kufra oasis in south-east Libya, had killed five people in an air raid on Omdurman.
In reaction to the numerous coups in the region, in 1985, the
National Democratic Alliance
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Rāṣṭrīya Lokatāntrik Gaṭhabandhan'') is an Indian big tent Political group, multi-party political alliance, led by the country's biggest political party, the Bharatiya Janata Pa ...
(NDA) was formed when all unions and political parties except the NIF signed the “Charter of the National Alliance” and the “Charter to Protect Democracy” in order to incite civil disobedience against future coups.
[Robert O. Collins. “Africans, Arabs, and Islamists: From the Conference Tables to the Battlefields in Sudan,” African Studies Review, Vol. 42, No. 2 (Sep., 1999)] Following this, on 6 April 1985, a group of military officers, led by Lieutenant General
Abdel Rahman Swar al-Dahab, overthrew Nimeiry. Following Nimeiry's fall in 1985, Gaddafi immediately abandoned military support for the
Sudan People's Liberation Army
The South Sudan People's Defence Forces (SSPDF), formerly the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), is the military force of South Sudan. The SPLA was founded as a guerrilla movement against the government of Sudan in 1983 and was a key parti ...
(SPLA) and provided his full support to Nimeiri's former Muslim opponents in the North, namely
Sadiq al-Mahdi
Sadiq al-Mahdi (; 25 December 1935 – 26 November 2020), also known as Sadiq as-Siddiq, was a Sudanese political and religious figure who was Prime Minister of Sudan from 1966 to 1967 and again from 1986 to 1989. He was head of the National Um ...
’s
Umma Party.
On April 9, 1985 Lieutenant General Dhahab ordered the formation of a fifteen-man
Transitional Military Council (TMC) to rule Sudan. The TMC suspended the constitution; dissolved the SSU, the secret police, and the parliament and region assemblies dismissed regional governors and their minister; and released hundreds of political detainees from
Kober Prison.
In July 1985, Libyan-Sudanese relations once again fluctuated, this time becoming stronger after a military protocol was signed between the two countries. Despite Gaddafi’s strong support for the Sudanese opposition leader
Sadiq al-Mahdi
Sadiq al-Mahdi (; 25 December 1935 – 26 November 2020), also known as Sadiq as-Siddiq, was a Sudanese political and religious figure who was Prime Minister of Sudan from 1966 to 1967 and again from 1986 to 1989. He was head of the National Um ...
,
in December 1985, many Libyans labeled as “Islamic extremists,” were gathered and exiled from Sudan.
In February 1986 the International Monetary Fund declared Sudan bankrupt, after the Dhahab government refused to accept IMF economic austerity measures. Later that year Sadiq al-Mahdi was declared the
Prime Minister of Sudan. In a change of tone towards Libya, Mahdi unsuccessfully attempted to mediate the Libyan-Chadian conflict.
The Mahdi government also permitted Libya to station some of its military forces in Darfur. From this position the troops assisted Chadian rebels in carrying out raids against government forces in Chad. However, in response to pressures from Egypt and the United States shortly thereafter, the Sudanese government requested a withdrawal of Libyan forces.
On June 30, 1989, Colonel (later Lieutenant General)
Omar al-Bashir
Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir (born 1 January 1944) is a Sudanese former military officer and politician who served as Head of state of Sudan, Sudan's head of state under various titles from 1989 until 2019, when he was deposed in 2019 Sudanese c ...
overthrew Mahdi and created the
Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation to govern Sudan. Early in 1990 Sudan and Libya discussed the idea of unification between the two nations. In July of that year the first meeting of the Libyan-Sudanese Joint General People's Committee was held, and the Councils of Ministers of the two countries met in a combined session. The chief result of this meeting was greater economic cooperation, not the previously discussed political unification. Libya and Sudan signed a trade and development agreement that had Libyan investment in agricultural projects in exchange for guaranteed access for the Sudanese agricultural products.
In October 1993, the Revolutionary Command Council which was created a few years earlier was dissolved. The leader of the coup d'état, Lieutenant General Bashir, became a civilian president, and all the vital offices of government were now held by members of the NIF political party or their sympathizers.
1990s
“The pro-Libyan attitude of black African states has prompted Gaddafi to adopt a new foreign policy towards the continent.
“In general, the future of Libya’s relations with the countries of the region is likely to be influenced by Gaddafi’s rapprochement with the Arab countries and with the West.”
Libyan and Sudanese ties were further cemented when in February 1999 an economic cooperation agreement was signed between the two countries and four other Sahel states.
As alluded to earlier, Libya's relations with Sudan were in many respects a consequence of relations with Egypt.
“Particularly important is the rapprochement with Egypt. The two countries have agreed to integrate their economies and to co-ordinate their African policies, especially in relations to Sudan. In August 1999, at a summit conference held in Cairo, Egyptian President
Hosni Mubarak
Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011 and the 41st Prime Minister of Egypt, prime minister from 1981 to ...
and Gaddafi agreed to mediate an end to
Sudan’s civil war. The regimes of both Libya and Egypt have confronted and/or continue to confront armed Islamic opposition and consequently both share an interest in Sudan, a country that has been accused of harboring radical Islamic groups. Above all, however, the Egyptian-Libyan initiative seems to reflect a joint fear on the part of the two countries that Washington supports the secession of southern Sudan and the break-up of an Arab country.”
Relations between Libya and Sudan were strained after 2002 due to Muammar Gaddafi and the
Libyan Army's strong support for the
Darfur Liberation Front. This resulted in DLF troops militarily fighting against the
Anti-Gaddafi forces
The anti-Gaddafi forces, also known as the Libyan opposition or Libyan rebels, were Libyan groups that opposed and militarily defeated the government of Muammar Gaddafi during the First Libyan Civil War in 2011, killing him in the process. The A ...
in the
First Libyan Civil War
The Libyan civil war, also known as the First Libyan Civil War and Libyan Revolution, was an armed conflict in 2011 in the North African country of Libya that was fought between forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and rebel groups that were ...
, and subsequently Bashir's government and the
Sudanese Armed Forces
The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF; ) are the military forces of the Republic of the Sudan. The force strength has been estimated at personnel in 2011 (by IISS), 200,000 personnel before the current war in Sudan broke out in 2023 (by the CIA), and ...
providing direct support for the Anti-Gaddafi rebels as a response.
21st century
In the early 2000s, Sudan and Libya made concerted efforts to improve relations.
The last half of 2002 witnessed a series of high-level meetings between Libya and Sudan.
The Sudanese foreign minister at the time, Mustafa Uthman Isma’il, and his Libyan counterpart agreed to work for peace in Sudan within the framework of Sudanese unity, establish a committee for political coordination, and take measures to implement agreements on customs, the Nile international fund, trade, taxation, and investment.
Also in 2002, the Higher Ministerial Committee for Libyan–Sudanese Integration agreed on a number of political and practical issues, including condemnation of American threats to launch “unjustified aggression” against Iraq.
In 2004, as the crisis in Darfur worsened, Libya hosted informal consultations between representatives of the Sudanese government and the rebel movements.
The rebels rejected the Libyan initiative and insisted that the Joint Commission of the African Union serve as the principal interlocutor.
This development did not deter First Vice President Taha in 2005 from urging al-Qadhafi to help find a solution to the Darfur crisis.
Relations between Libya and Sudan were generally good but remained unpredictable, primarily as a result of the mercurial leadership in Tripoli.
Sudan saw al-Qadhafi as a periodic problem that needed to be contained.
It was better to bring him into the tent than to try to exclude him.
As a result, Sudan did not object to al-Qadhafi's efforts to mediate both the Darfur conflict and the earlier conflict in Eastern Sudan.
The two countries settled on a policy of coexistence.
In 2011, the
Libyan Civil War occurred. Despite enjoying good bilateral relations since the end of
Cold War
The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
, Omar al-Bashir soon declared support for the opposition, blaming Gaddafi for supporting
Darfur
Darfur ( ; ) is a region of western Sudan. ''Dār'' is an Arabic word meaning "home f – the region was named Dardaju () while ruled by the Daju, who migrated from Meroë , and it was renamed Dartunjur () when the Tunjur ruled the area. ...
separatists. The Sudanese Government armed the Libyan
National Transitional Council
The National Transitional Council (NTC) was a transitional government established in the 2011 Libyan civil war. After rebel forces overthrew the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya of Muammar Gaddafi in August 2011, the NTC governed Libya for a further ...
, which eventually toppled the government of Gaddafi. With the fall and
death
Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...
of Libyan leader, the Bashir hailed the fall of Gaddafi on his trip to Libya in 2012. The new Libyan leadership in 2011 also acknowledged their gratitude to Sudan for arming them against government forces.
In July 2017, General
Khalifa Haftar
Khalifa Haftar (; born 7 November 1943) is a Libyan-American politician, military officer, and the commander of the Tobruk-based Libyan National Army (LNA). In 2015, he was appointed commander of the armed forces loyal to the 2014 Libyan parliam ...
of the
Libyan National Army
The Libyan National Army (LNA; , ''al-jaysh al-waṭaniyy al-Lībii''), also known as the Libyan Arab Army (LAA; , ''al-Jaysh al-'Arabiyy al-Lībii'') or the Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF; ), is a component of Libyan Armed Forces, Libya's mil ...
ordered the closing of the Sudanese consulate in the town of
Kufra
Kufra () is a basinBertarelli (1929), p. 514. and oasis group in the Kufra District of southeastern Cyrenaica in Libya. At the end of the 19th century, Kufra became the centre and holy place of the Senussi order. It also played a minor role in ...
, and expelled 12 diplomats. The consul and 11 other consular staff were given 72 hours to leave the country. The reason given was that the way it conducted its work was "damaging to Libyan national security." The Sudanese government protested and summoned the Libyan chargé d'affaires in
Khartoum
Khartoum or Khartum is the capital city of Sudan as well as Khartoum State. With an estimated population of 7.1 million people, Greater Khartoum is the largest urban area in Sudan.
Khartoum is located at the confluence of the White Nile – flo ...
, Ali Muftah Mahroug, in response. Sudan recognises the
Government of National Accord
The Government of National Accord (GNA; ) was an interim government for Libya that was formed under the terms of the Libyan Political Agreement, a United Nations–led initiative, signed on 17 December 2015. The agreement was unanimously endors ...
in Tripoli as the legitimate government of Libya, not the
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...
that is backed by General Haftar. As of 2022, Sudan has an embassy and consulate located in Tripoli to provide services to the Sudanese residents.
See also
*
Federation of Arab Republics
The Federation of Arab Republics (FAR; , , ) was an unsuccessful attempt by Muammar Gaddafi to merge Libya, Egypt and Syria in order to create a unified Arab state. Although approved by a referendum in each country on 1 September 1971, the th ...
*
Libya–Sudan border
The Libya–Sudan border is 382 km (237 mi) in length and runs from the tripoint with Egypt in the north to the tripoint with Chad in the south.
Description
The border starts in the north at the tripoint with Egypt on Gabal El Uweinat, proce ...
*
Pan-Africanism
Pan-Africanism is a nationalist movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all Indigenous peoples of Africa, indigenous peoples and diasporas of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atla ...
*
Pan-Arabism
Pan-Arabism () is a Pan-nationalism, pan-nationalist ideology that espouses the unification of all Arabs, Arab people in a single Nation state, nation-state, consisting of all Arab countries of West Asia and North Africa from the Atlantic O ...
References
External links
Discussion on the Conflictfrom th
Dean Peter Krogh Foreign Affairs Digital Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Libyan-Sudanese conflict
Sudan
Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...
Bilateral relations of Sudan