Sudan cabinet dissolved ahead of interim rule

John Garang, leader of SPLM, right, shakes hands with Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir after signing the Sudanese reconciliation accord in Cairo, Saturday, June 18, 2005. (AP).

KHARTOUM, July 17 (AFP) — The Sudanese council of ministers held its last meeting Sunday in Khartoum ahead of the formation of a power-sharing cabinet that will include southern former rebels.

During a landmark ceremony on July 9, an interim constitution was signed providing for the dissolution of the Sudanese government, in line with the January peace accord that ended 21 years of deadly north-south fighting.

“We are overwhelmed with happiness as we leave the council of ministers while the country is on the threshold of a new era,” outgoing Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail told reporters after the closed-door meeting.

He announced that he would not be part of the next government, which is to be formed by August 9 at the latest. Ismail’s post is expected to be handed to a former rebel from John Garang’s Sudan People’s Liberation Movement.

“Some ministers will rejoin the cabinet but I will not be one of them.”