Sudanese president sacks second VP

KHARTOUM, Oct 6 (AFP) — Sudanese President Omar el-Beshir fired Mubarak al-Fadil al-Mahdi, who served as his second vice president, palace sources said, without giving a reason.

Mahdi took up the office almost two years ago after having led a breakaway group from the mainstream opposition Umma party which is led by his cousin, Sadek al-Mahdi, a former prime minister.

Mubarak Mahdi and a group of rebel Umma party officials returned to Sudan from exile and accepted ministerial portfolios, including the information and international cooperation posts.

He was interior minister in his cousin’s democratically elected government, which was toppled by Beshir in a 1989 bloodless coup.

Wednesday’s presidential decree targeted only Mahdi without mentioning his colleagues.

It was not clear if the move signaled a tilt toward the Umma as part of a government effort to win over the party.

The official SUNA news agency, quoting an unnamed presidential source, said Mubarak Mahdi was sacked because he was “operating outside institutions”. It did not elaborate.

As second vice president, he was the third most powerful figure in the executive after Beshir and First Vice President Ali Osman Taha.

SUNA said the decision to remove Mubarak Mahdi would not affect the position of his splinter Umma party colleagues in the government.

It quoted the palace source as saying the government was not a coalition government and therefore, the dismissal of one official does not mean the ejection of the entire party from government.