Sudan’s Bashir sacks veteran ally as vice president
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Saturday sacked his long-time ally Bakri Hassan Saleh as first vice president, a day after dissolving the government in the face of nationwide protests.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has faced weeks of protest against his three-decade rule. AFP/ASHRAF SHAZLY
Defence Minister General Awad Ibnouf has been appointed to replace Saleh, who was involved in the Islamist-backed coup that brought Bashir to power three decades ago, a presidential decree said.
The move comes after the president on Friday imposed a state of emergency across the country and dissolved the federal and provincial governments in a bid to quell weeks of demonstrations that have rocked his iron-fisted rule.
Saleh, a key aide to Bashir for decades, previously held several ministerial portfolios including interior and defence.
In March 2017 he was appointed as prime minister, the first since Bashir seized power in 1989. He was later removed from the post.
Saleh was also an adviser to Bashir on national security and head of the country’s powerful National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) in the 1990s.
Protests erupted in Sudan in December after a government decision to cut a vital bread subsidy, and swiftly mushroomed into anti-government demonstrations calling for Bashir to go.
Officials say 31 people have died in protest-related violence, while Human Rights Watch says at least 51 people have been killed.
Protest leaders have dismissed Bashir’s declaration of a state of emergency and pledged to continue with their campaign of demonstrations until he is ousted.
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