KHARTOUM (Reuters)
Sudan has reshuffled 12 cabinet posts including moving the influential energy minister Awad Ahmed al-Jaz to the finance ministry and removing the justice minister from his post, but the move was seen as "pushing papers".
Ex-finance minister al-Zubeir Ahmed al-Hassan will now lead the energy ministry, the state-owned Sudanese Media Center news agency said on Saturday. Both are key ministries in Sudan, which produces more than 500,000 barrels per day of oil in an opaque Chinese-dominated industry.
Former governor of Kassala Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamad became minister of interior, replacing Al-Zubayr Bashir Taha who moved to the agriculture and forestry portfolio.
Justice Minister Mohamed Ali al-Mardi's departure comes after disputes with many media organizations over a series of reporting bans, which many rights lawyers and members of the media said were illegal. Minister for Federal Affairs Abdel Basit Sabderat replaced Mardi.
A Sudanese analyst who declined to be named said the reshuffle was just "pushing papers".
"The key people are still in key positions," he said. But Mardi's removal was a step forward to improve Sudan's image abroad, he added.
Ibrahim Ahmed Omer, a senior figure in President Omar Hassan al-Bashir's National Congress Party who came out of retirement to advise Bashir on media matters, was appointed minister for science and technology. |
