New Sudan PM sworn in as protesters rally against emergency

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir swore in a new premier Sunday as hundreds of demonstrators called on the veteran leader to resign after he imposed a state of emergency across the country. Bashir imposed a year-long emergency on Friday after a deadly crackdown failed to suppress weeks of protests against his three-decade rule.

The veteran leader, who swept to power in an Islamist-backed coup in 1989, dissolved the cabinet and provincial governments, and pledged to bring in technocrats to help end the economic crisis -- the key factor behind the protests. On Sunday, former governor of the agricultural state of Jazeera, Mohamed Tahir Ela, was sworn in as the new prime minister at a ceremony, an AFP photographer said.

Defence Minister General Awad Ibnouf was also sworn in as the first vice president after his predecessor Bakri Hassan Saleh was sacked by Bashir. Bashir also swore in 16 army officers and two officers from the National Intelligence and Security Service as new governors for the country’s 18 provinces. He is also expected to announce soon an entire new cabinet as he pushes on with sweeping top level changes in the face of nationwide protests that have rocked his rule.