Bashir announces national unity government

Sudanese President Omar al Bashir announced on Wednesday the formation of a new government of national unity in accordance with the terms of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed between the government and the southern Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A). The ruling National Congress Party retained 16 out of the 29 ministries, including the strategic energy, finance and interior ministries, while the SPLM/A got nine posts, including the foreign ministry. The remaining posts went to other, smaller parties. Observers said the formation of a unity government was another milestone in the implementation of the CPA that ended the country's 21-year north-south conflict. Sudan's new interim National Assembly held its first session on 31 August. The CPA, signed on 9 January by Bashir and the late first vice president of Sudan and chairman of SPLM/A, John Garang, in Nairobi, Kenya, attempts to encourage wealth- and power-sharing in the oil-rich nation. The agreement, which began a six-year transitional period in the country, details protocols on sharing legislative power and natural resources. South Sudan will vote to decide whether to remain politically united with the north or separate from it after the transitional period. The war between the SPLM/A and the Sudanese government in the south erupted in 1983 when the rebels took up arms against authorities based in the north to demand greater autonomy. The fighting has killed at least two million people, uprooted four million more, and forced some 600,000 to flee to neighbouring countries.