Former rebel leaders appointed to Sudan’s new cabinet

On Monday, the Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok announced a new cabinet calling on seven former rebel leaders as ministers, following a peace deal in October aimed at ending decades of war.

Veteran rebel leader and economist Gibril Ibrahim, of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) which played a major role in the Darfur conflict was appointed as Sudan’s new finance minister.

Two ministers were selected from the military, with the remaining coming from the Forces for Freedom and Change group, which plays a key role in Sudanese politics.

The group was the driving force behind the anti-government protests that led to the April 2019 ouster of strongman Omar al-Bashir.

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Hamdok named as foreign minister Mariam al-Sadiq al-Mahdi, daughter of Sudan’s last democratically elected prime minister, Sadiq al-Mahdi, who died aged 84 in November from a coronavirus infection.