Sudan\'s President restructures ruling party

The Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, presided over a lengthy meeting which lasted until the early hours of Thursday morning with the leading office of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP), a meeting which was dedicated to completing the restructuring process of the party, by naming the remaining head positions of the sections and the secretariats. This meeting resulted in the exit of Mustafa Othman Ismail, from his position as the Secretary of Foreign Relations, to be replaced with Ibrahim Ghandour, while Osama Faisal has been named as the secretary of Western countries relations, however, other secretariats such as culture and education have been assigned to figures within the party. Nafie Ali Nafie, assistant to President Al-Bashir, commenting on these decisions said: \"These amendments are part of the process to pump fresh blood and push young faces into leading positions in the party\". The official declaration says that these amendments have come as part of an overhaul of the party, by eliminating those who called for reforms within  the party  which led some to believe that  changes were introduced in order to  \"settle scores\" which was denied by leading figure in the party. On the other hand, Nafie said that \"what has been agreed in the recent round of negotiations between the Sudanese government, and the state of South Sudan, concerning the suspension issues, and implications of the secession between the South and the North, is a good achievement\",  stressing that \"the Sudanese strategy is based on building good relations with all neighbouring  Arab and African countries, so that they can help us to avoid any controversies which may offer a reason for external interventions. \" Nafei indicated that \"the negotiating team would submit a total report in the government session on Thursday, then, the details of what has been reached will be announced\". Nafei expected that \"the announcement of those agreements will offer more confidence and trust to the people of Sudan\", refusing at the same time to declare the party\'s position towards the four basic rights to freedom: the right of  owning, the right to housing, the freedom of movement and economic activity.\"