[1] 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.
[3] In these cases Libya's conflict with Sudan resulted from Gaddafi's regional goals of pan-Arabism and was heavily influenced by relations with Egypt.
[6] In 1986 Libya assisted the Mahdi government under Sadiq al-Mahdi to assume power in Sudan, resuming relations between the two nations.
[10] However, a year later Sudan accused Libya of involvement in three successive coup attempts and subsequently severed diplomatic relations.
However, relations soon become strained after Gaddafi condemned Sudanese support for President Anwar Sadat of Egypt who signed the September 1978 Camp David Accords.
[11] 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.
[10] 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.
[14] Gaddafi, who has determined Libya's foreign policy since 1969, has consistently been a proponent of Arab unity, the advancement of Islam, the Palestinian cause and anti-Western sentiments.
They had already suffered from Gaddafi's participation in trying to disrupt the governments of Sudan, Egypt and Tunisia through coups and assassinations after failed attempts at unification.
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.
[15] Following this, on 6 April 1985, a group of military officers, led by Lieutenant General Abdel Rahman Swar al-Dahab, overthrew Nimeiry.
[6] On April 9, 1985 Lieutenant General Dhahab ordered the formation of a fifteen-man Transitional Military Council (TMC) to rule Sudan.
Despite Gaddafi’s strong support for the Sudanese opposition leader Sadiq al-Mahdi,[11] 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.
On June 30, 1989, Colonel (later Lieutenant General) Omar al-Bashir overthrew Mahdi and created the Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation to govern Sudan.
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 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.
In August 1999, at a summit conference held in Cairo, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Gaddafi agreed to mediate an end to Sudan’s civil war.
[1] 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.
[1] 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.
[1] Relations between Libya and Sudan were generally good but remained unpredictable, primarily as a result of the mercurial leadership in Tripoli.
[22] In July 2017, General Khalifa Haftar of the Libyan National Army ordered the closing of the Sudanese consulate in the town of Kufra, and expelled 12 diplomats.