In February 1989 a group of Sudanese Army officers had presented an ultimatum to the Prime Minister asking for either an end to the civil war or to give the military the means to end the war, resulting in a government effort to try and resolve the conflict. It was also alleged that the coup was spurred by Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi's decision on 18 June 1989 to arrest a group of 14 military officials and 50 civilians accused of being engaged in a plan to overthrow the government by means of a coup and restore former President Gaafar al-Nimeiry to power.