Sudan's army chief appoints new ruling council, headed by himself

Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al Burhan has formed a new transitional council, headed by himself, to lead the country following the military takeover late last month.

The new council announced on Thursday also includes representatives of rebel groups that reached a peace deal with the government last year, and figures from Sudan's regions, state TV said.

Burhan's deputy will remain Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commander of the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), with both men keeping roles they had held before the coup.

The council also retains Shamsaldine al Kabashi, Yasser Atta, and Ibrahim Gaber, all senior military figures.

Civilian figures include former parliamentarian Abou al Qassem Bortoum, a supporter of Sudan's normalisation with Israel.

The council had served as Sudan's collective head of state, alongside Hamdok's government which ran Sudan's day-to-day affairs.

Burhan and Dagalo had led the previous ruling council formed in 2019 but had been due to hand over its leadership to a civilian in the coming months.

Military control

The October 25 takeover ended a power-sharing arrangement between the military and civilians that was agreed upon after the overthrow of former president Omar al Bashir in 2019 and was meant to lead to elections in late 2023.

The agreement stipulated then that the council should include five civilians chosen by activist, five military representatives and one member to be chosen in agreement between civilians and the generals.

Some senior civilians have been detained since the October coup and Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has been under house arrest.

Mediation aimed at securing the release of detainees and a return to power-sharing has stalled since the coup as the military has moved to consolidate control.

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