KHARTOUM, Sudan/ISTANBUL

Chairman of Sudan’s Sovereign Council Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan appointed Ambassador Dafallah al-Haj Ali as the minister of Cabinet affairs and prime minister caretaker on Wednesday.

Al-Haj is the current ambassador to Saudi Arabia and has been serving in the Foreign Ministry since 1980.

He served as ambassador to Pakistan, the Vatican and France, and as permanent representative to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and to the UN.

Burhan also approved a cabinet decision on the appointment of Ambassador Omar Mohamed Ahmed Siddig as foreign minister and Dr. al-Tahami al-Zein Hajar Mohamed as minister of education.

A transitional government was established by Burhan in April 2019, following a military coup that overthrew then-President Omar al-Bashir. The government was replaced with a transitional sovereignty council in August of that year and with the Sovereign Council in November 2021.

Since April 15, 2023, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group has been battling army forces for control of Sudan, resulting in thousands of deaths and one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

More than 20,000 victims have been killed, and 15 million displaced, according to the UN and local authorities.

Research from US scholars, however, estimates the death toll at around 130,000.​​​​​​​