Sudan: Asmaa Abdalla is new Foreign Minister

GREAT news. Sudan's new Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has appointed his cabinet consisting of at least three women, including Asmaa Abdalla as the first woman to serve as foreign minister in Sudanese history.  Unless the following report contains an error, it seems that the PM and his FM share the name Abdalla.

Article from and by Asharq Al-Awsat.com

Dated Thursday 05 September 2019 - 19:15

Sudan Gets 1st Woman FM as Hamdok Names Cabinet

Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok announced on Thursday [05 Sep] his cabinet, the first since the ouster of former President Omar al-Bashir in April, and appointees include Sudan's first woman foreign minister.

Hamdok said in a news conference in the capital, Khartoum, the cabinet will include at least three women, including Asmaa Abdalla as the first woman to serve as foreign minister in Sudanese history.

He also picked Ibrahim Elbadawi, a former World Bank economist, to lead the Finance Ministry. Overhauling Sudan's ailing economy is a top challenge facing the county's transitional government.

The cabinet is part of a power-sharing agreement between the military and demonstrators.

Under the deal, Hamdok will form a cabinet of not more than 20 ministers, but the military will nominate the defense and interior ministers.

The PM announced the names of 18 ministers in the new cabinet and said he would name two more later.

The military has nominated Lt. Gen. Gamal Omar as defense minister and Idriss al-Traifi as interior minister. 

The deal, signed earlier this month, created a joint military-civilian Sovereign Council to rule for a little over three years until elections can be held.

The military ousted Bashir in April after months of mass protests against his three-decade-rule.

View original: https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1888886/sudan-gets-1st-woman-fm-hamdok-names-cabinet