Sudan's defense minister named first vice president
KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan’s Defence Minister Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf was appointed first vice president and will remain the defense minister, the Sudanese presidency said on Saturday.
President Omar al-Bashir declared a one-year nationwide state of emergency on Friday and set up a caretaker administration but retained his defense, foreign and justice ministers.
Protesters frustrated with economic hardship have demonstrated for more than two months calling for an end to Bashir’s 30-year-old rule.
Bashir also replaced on Friday the governors of every Sudanese state with military officials.
Ibn Auf, who previously served as the head of military intelligence, earlier this month became the second of several top officials to strike a conciliatory tone toward the protests, saying that young people caught up in the recent turmoil had “reasonable ambition”.
Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz; Writing by Yousef Saba; Editing by Robin Pomeroy
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