Khartoum, Feb 23 (UNI) Day after declaring a year-long state of emergency to counter protests calling for his removal from office, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Saturday appointed Mohamed Tahir Ella, the former governor of El-Gezira State and Red Sea State, as new Prime Minister of Sudan and also issued a Republican decree appointing Lt Gen Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf as first Vice President and defence minister of the Sudan.

Earlier on Friday, the President declared state of emergency all over Sudan for one year and dissolved the central and states' governments in the wake of popular protests which the country has been witnessing since Dec 19 last year over the deteriorating economic conditions and price hikes.
In a televised address to the nation, the 75-year-old President urged his opponents to join a "path of national reconciliation" and called on parliament to postpone constitutional amendments that would have allowed him to seek another term in a presidential election in 2020.
Hours after his address, Bashir issued two decrees which set up a caretaker administration comprising a senior official from each ministry and kept the defence, foreign and justice ministers in place, AlJazeera said in a report.
UNI XC JAL 2323