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Their path to power was made easier by the previous regime, which had virtually courted a coup by its internal bickering and corruption. Members of Parliament openly sold firearms permits in the streets. Last year a partnership was uncovered between an Indian textile merchant and President Ismail Azhari's twelve-year-old son. For weeks before it was overthrown, the ruling coalition had been in effect a caretaker government, after the powerful Umma Party had healed a split between its traditionalist and progressive wings. The man in line to become Prime Minister had been Sadik Mahdi, 33, a progressive, development-minded politician who had made a promising start on solving the Sudan's problems during a brief stint as Prime Minister in 1966-67. Just after the take-over last week, Sadik gathered with his followers in the anteroom of the holy tomb of the Mahdi in Omdurman. Dressed in a white silk galabia, he spoke in a whisper, but he professed not to be discouraged by the army takeover and hinted that there might be further upheaval. "Any coup is born with a countercoup," he told TIME Correspondent William Smith, adding, "We believe our task in the ultimate reform of the Sudan is not made more difficult by what has happened."
Unpromising Beginning. The first acts of the new regime, however, indicated that the ultimate reform of the Sudan is probably farther off than ever. The government promptly recognized East Germany on the basis of East Berlin's opposition to Israel, and announced its intention of sending a mission to Moscow to seek arms. At home, the new rulers hinted at nationalizing "local capital with imperialist connections," which could only sound ominous to the owners of Sudan's British Petroleum, Shell and Mobil oil interests. The military character of the regime, moreover, probably also means a stepped-up campaign against the blacks in the south. Even in the capital, the coup may not long remain bloodless. The new government announced that it will try the deposed civilian politicians—including Sadik Mahdi—for high treason.