Sudan’s army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has appointed veteran diplomat Dafallah Al-Haj Ali as acting prime minister on Wednesday, weeks after the military recaptured large parts of the capital, Khartoum, from rival forces.
According to a statement from the council, Burhan, who also chairs Sudan’s transitional sovereign council, approved the appointment of current ambassador Omar Seddik as the country’s new foreign minister.
The appointments come in the wake of significant military advances. In March, the Sudanese army ousted the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), from most of Khartoum, marking a turning point in a conflict that has ravaged the country for two years and split it into competing zones of control. Despite the setback, the RSF remains entrenched in parts of western Sudan.
The war, which broke out in April 2023, stemmed from tensions over the integration of the RSF into the regular armed forces. The two factions had previously cooperated in displacing a civilian-led transitional government that followed the 2019 ouster of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir.
In February, Burhan signaled plans to amend Sudan’s interim constitution. According to military sources, the revisions would eliminate any reference to power-sharing with civilians or the RSF, consolidating authority under the army. Under the new arrangement, the military would appoint a technocratic prime minister empowered to form a cabinet.
