Sudan's first prime minister since 1989 has named a new government and vowed to resolve insurgencies in border regions and heal the country's crisis-wracked economy. The new cabinet was unveiled late Thursday by Bakri Hassan Saleh, appointed in March as Sudan's first prime minister since the post was scrapped in an Islamist-backed coup that brought President Omar al-Bashir to power.
Saleh said the government would prioritise "increasing production, improving people's living standards and achieving peace." Sudan has been rocked by years of conflict with rebels in the vast western region of Darfur and the southern Blue Nile and South Kordofan states. Bashir is wanted by the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of genocide and war crimes related to the conflict in Darfur.
Fighting erupted there in 2003 when ethnic minority rebels took up arms against Bashir's Arab-dominated government, accusing it of marginalising the region economically and politically. Sudan's economy has also been suffering from the loss of three-quarters of its oil resources when South Sudan gained independence in 2011. It has been rocked by demonstrations against the government which reduced subsidies and raised prices on certain commodities.