KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir named his first vice president and long-time ally Hassan Saleh to the newly created post of prime minister on Wednesday, the clearest sign yet that he intends for him to one day take over.

Hassan Saleh walks out after being named prime minister during a meeting on party leadership in Khartoum, Sudan, March 1, 2017. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah.

It is the first time Sudan has had a prime minister since Bashir came to power in a 1989 Islamist and military-backed coup. Saleh is the last member of the group of officers that launched the coup to remain at Bashir’s side.

“The party leadership meeting chaired by President Bashir approved the nomination of Hassan Saleh as prime minister and his retention of the post of first vice president,” said ruling National Congress Party Deputy Leader Ibrahim Mahmoud.

Saleh will be sworn in on Thursday and immediately start negotiations on forming a new cabinet, Mahmoud said.

Sudan’s constitution was amended in December to introduce the position of prime minister, a demand of opposition parties that took part in a national dialogue with the government, with the aim of distributing some of the presidency’s extensive powers.

Bashir agreed to the proposal but reserved most executive authority for himself. Saleh is now seen as the strongest contender to succeed Bashir if he keeps his promise of not running for re-election in 2020.

Bashir has undergone heart surgery in recent weeks, raising questions over who would succeed him. While leading an Islamist party, Bashir also has the military’s loyalty as a one-time officer which strengthens his position and raises doubts over a civilian succeeding him, especially as conflicts between government forces and various armed rebel groups go on.

Saleh, a retired army general, is a former defense, interior and presidential affairs minister. He currently serves as first vice president and National Congress Party deputy leader for executive affairs.

Bashir’s long war against various rebel groups coincides with a severe economic downturn. This year’s budget foresees a growing deficit and slower growth.

Sudan’s economic problems have been building since the south seceded in 2011, taking with it three-quarters of oil output, the main source of foreign currency and government income.

Bashir is wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.</s>Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has appointed a top aide as prime minister, reinstating a post he had abolished after coming to power in a 1989 coup, an official said. Bakri Hassan Saleh was named prime minister by the executive bureau of Bashir’s National Congress Party (NCP). “He will take the oath as prime minister tomorrow,” Ibrahim Mahmoud, the NCP’s deputy chief, told reporters yesterday, adding that Saleh would also hold onto his current post of Sudan’s first vice president.

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Sudanese lawmakers voted in December to reinstate the post of prime minister.

Following the appointment of Saleh, a fellow officer involved in the Islamist-backed coup, Bashir is expected to announce a cabinet reshuffle on Thursday.

The naming of a premier and delegation of some of the president’s powers fall in line with reforms proposed by a year-long national dialogue held between Bashir’s government and some opposition groups.

In October, after a quarter century in power, Bashir concluded the national dialogue aimed at resolving insurgencies in Sudan’s border regions and healing the country’s crisis-wracked economy.

The talks launched in October 2015 were boycotted by most mainstream opposition and armed groups.

Bashir abolished the post of premier after he led a bloodless coup almost three decades ago against then premier Sadiq al-Mahdi with the help of Islamist leader Hassan al-Turabi.

Mahdi, who had fled abroad more than two years ago, returned to Sudan last month.

A fixture of Sudanese politics since the 1960s, Mahdi served as prime minister from 1966 to 1967 and again from 1986 to 1989.

His government was the last to be democratically elected in Sudan before the 1989 coup.</s>Vice president and close ally of Sudan's leader appointed to post abolished after coup that brought Bashir to power.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has appointed a top aide as prime minister, reinstating a post he abolished after coming to power in a 1989 coup, an official said.

Bakri Hassan Saleh will be sworn in on Thursday and immediately start negotiations on forming a new cabinet, said ruling National Congress Party deputy leader Ibrahim Mahmoud.

Saleh will hold onto his current post of Sudan's first vice president, Mahmoud said.

Sudanese lawmakers voted in December to reinstate the post of prime minister.

Saleh was among the officers who launched the bloodless 1989 coup, and the last member of the group to remain at Bashir's side.

The retired army general is a former defence, interior and presidential affairs minister. He currently serves as first vice president and National Congress Party deputy leader for executive affairs.

The naming of a prime minister and delegation of some of the president's powers fall in line with reforms proposed by a year-long national dialogue held between Bashir's government and some opposition groups.

In October, after a quarter century in power, Bashir concluded the national dialogue aimed at resolving insurgencies in Sudan's border regions and healing the country's crisis-wracked economy.

The process was boycotted by most mainstream opposition and armed groups.</s>A former army general and top aide to President Omar al-Bashir was sworn in Thursday as Sudan's first prime minister since the post was scrapped in a 1989 Islamist-backed coup.

Bakri Hassan Saleh, a military officer involved in the bloodless coup that brought Bashir to power three decades ago, was named prime minister a day earlier by the executive bureau of the president's National Congress Party (NCP).

Saleh, 68, took the oath as prime minister at a presidential palace in Khartoum. He will also continue in his post as first vice president.

Bashir abolished the post of prime minister after the coup, and analysts said the appointment of Saleh as premier was an attempt by the president to give his decades-old regime a new look.

The appointment falls in line with reforms proposed by a year-long national dialogue held between Bashir's government and some opposition groups.

In October, after a quarter century in power, Bashir concluded the national dialogue aimed at resolving insurgencies in Sudan's border regions and healing the country's crisis-wracked economy.

The talks, launched in 2015, were boycotted by most mainstream opposition and armed groups.

"Our country is at a historic moment as it harmonises all political parties and powers who participated in the national dialogue," Saleh said in a brief statement after taking oath.

Sudanese lawmakers had voted in December to reinstate the post of prime minister.

"General Bakri's appointment is broadly a continuation of Bashir's rule rather than a new chapter in Sudan's politics," Khaled Tigani, editor-in-chief of weekly newspaper Elaff, told AFP.

"But at the end of the day it depends on the leadership that General Bakri manages to show."

Saleh, a key aide to Bashir for decades, has previously held important government ministerial portfolios like interior and defence.

He has also been adviser to Bashir on national security and was head of the country's all powerful National Security and Intelligence Service in the 1990s.

Bashir had led the 1989 coup against then-prime minister Sadiq al-Mahdi with the help of Islamist leader Hassan al-Turabi.

Mahdi fled abroad more than two years ago but returned to Sudan last month.

A fixture of Sudanese politics since the 1960s, Mahdi served as prime minister from 1966 to 1967 and again from 1986 to 1989.

His government was the last to be democratically elected in Sudan before the coup.</s>Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir has appointed a prime minister for the first time since the 1989 coup that brought him to power.

Prime Minister Bakri Hassan Saleh, an army general and close confidante of the president who is widely known as "al-Bashir's shadow," was sworn in Thursday.

Saleh has previously held several posts, including vice president and defense minister, and has headed different security agencies.

The post of prime minister was created by constitutional amendments last year.

The state-run SUNA news agency quoted Saleh as saying a new Cabinet will represent various political forces.</s>KHARTOUM, March 1 (Reuters) - Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir named his first vice president and long-time ally Hassan Saleh to the newly created post of prime minister, the ruling party's deputy leader said on Wednesday.

It is the first time Sudan has had a prime minister since Bashir came to power in a 1989 Islamist and military-backed coup. Saleh is the last member of the group of officers that launched the coup to remain at Bashir's side.

"The party leadership meeting chaired by President Bashir approved the nomination of Hassan Saleh as prime minister and his retention of the post of first vice president," National Congress Party Deputy Leader Ibrahim Mahmoud told reporters.

Saleh will be sworn in on Thursday and immediately start negotiations on forming a new cabinet, Mahmoud said.

Sudan's constitution was amended in December to introduce the position of prime minister, a demand of opposition parties that took part in a national dialogue with the government, with the aim of distributing some of the presidency's extensive powers.

Bashir agreed to the proposal but reserved most executive authority for himself. Saleh is now seen as the strongest contender to succeed Bashir if he keeps his promise of not running for re-election in 2020. (Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz; Writing by Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing by Janet Lawrence)</s>After the swearing-in ceremony in Khartoum, Mr Saleh vowed to implement recommendations of the national dialogue and work towards resolving the Sudanese crisis.

“I will honestly implement the recommendations of the national dialogue and I will focus on the improvement of the living conditions of the Sudanese people, bringing peace and stability to the country” he said.

The national dialogue that ended in December saw the adoption of more than 900 recommendations geared towards political and socio-economic reforms including ending the civil war, allowing political freedoms, fighting against poverty and revitalising national identity.

The talks were held between government and some opposition parties but were boycotted by leading opposition groups and rebel movements.

President Omar Al-Bashir named his first vice president Mr Saleh as prime minister, a post he reinstated 28 years after abolishing it.

Mr Saleh was endorsed as the country’s first premier since 1989, when Mr Bashir came to power in a coup, during the ruling National Congress Party’s (NCP) meeting on Wednesday. He will now hold both the vice president and prime minister positions.

“The party leadership meeting chaired by President Bashir endorsed the nomination of Bakri Hassan Saleh as prime minister and his retention of the post of first vice president,” NCP’s deputy leader Ibrahim Mahmoud said Wednesday, adding that after taking oath of office he will immediately “engage in wide consultations to name his Cabinet.”

Sudan’s Constitution was amended in December to create the post of the prime minister at the end of a year-long national dialogue in which opposition parties had demand it be reinstated as a measure to check the president’s powers.

A former army general and long-time ally of President Bashir, Mr Saleh was part of the coup that brought the Sudanese leader into power nearly three decades ago.

Mr Saleh, 68, has been part of Sudan’s Cabinet since holding ministerial positions such as defence and interior. He has also been the chief of the National Security and Intelligence Service and a presidential advisor on security.

He was appointed to the post of first vice president in 2013.</s>CAIRO (AP) - Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir on Thursday appointed a prime minister for the first time since the 1989 coup that brought him to power, choosing a close confidante who could potentially succeed him if he fulfills a vow to not seek re-election in 2020.

Prime Minister Bakri Hassan Saleh, an army general widely known as "al-Bashir's shadow," was quoted by the state news agency SUNA as saying that the new Cabinet will be representative of various political forces.

Saleh has previously held several posts, including vice president and defense and interior minister, and has headed different security agencies. The post of prime minister was created by constitutional amendments last year.

Al-Bashir said in August that he would not seek re-election after his latest five-year term ends in 2020, but he had made a similar promise before ultimately running in 2015, in a low-turnout vote in which he faced no serious contenders.

Al-Bashir could potentially hand power to Saleh in three years, knowing that the close ally would likely preserve his political immunity within Sudan and shield him from demands that he stand trial at the International Criminal Court on charges of genocide stemming from the conflict in Darfur. However, al-Bashir has also sidelined close allies in the past in order to monopolize power.

The 73-year-old al-Bashir underwent heart surgery earlier this year, but state media have said he is in good health, and distributed photos taken shortly after the procedure.

Sudan has been grappling with an economic crisis since South Sudan, which contained three quarters of its oil production, seceded in 2011. Austerity measures led to large demonstrations in 2013, in which dozens of protesters were killed in clashes with security forces. The government is also battling rebels in different parts of the country.</s>KHARTOUM, March 1 (Reuters) - Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir named his first vice president and long-time ally Hassan Saleh to the newly-created post of prime minister, the ruling party's deputy leader said on Wednesday.

"The party leadership meeting chaired by President Bashir approved the nomination of Hassan Saleh as prime minister and his retention of the post of first vice president," National Congress Party Deputy Leader Ibrahim Mahmoud told reporters.

Saleh will be sworn in on Thursday and immediately start negotiations on forming a new cabinet, Mahmoud said. (Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz; Writing by Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing by Janet Lawrence)</s>Sudan and South Sudan will normalize ties and start cross-border cooperation, Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said on Friday during his first visit to the long-time foe since southern secession in 2011.

"This visit shows the start of cooperation based on a normalization of relations between the two countries," Bashir said in a speech in the capital Juba.

South Sudan's Salva Kiir said he had agreed with Bashir to continue a dialogue to solve all outstanding conflicts between the African neighbors.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir names Vice President Bakri Hassan Saleh as Prime Minister of Sudan, the first person to hold the post since it was abolished following the 1989 Sudanese coup d'état.