Unaware that Al Nour and Hamdallah's plane had been forced down in Libya, Atta travelled to Khartoum International Airport on the morning of the 22 July expecting to welcome the two back to Sudan. Atta had realized by this point that the coup may prove more difficult than it originally appeared, and had dispatched orders to prevent any attempted countercoups; the army had been ordered to immobilise its tanks in the Khartoum area, most armored brigades and paratroopers had been put on leave, and the arms and ammunition of units whose loyalty was in doubt had been removed and locked away. According to rumours, Atta had not undertaken these courses of action alone, but had instead done so with the advice and support of Soviet military personnel.[1]