Khartoum - Military Lieutenant-General Abdel Fattah Abdelrahman
Burhan has been sworn in as Sudan's new leader, state news agency
SUNA said on Wednesday.
The swearing-in came hours after the Transitional Military Council
(TMC) and the country's pro-democracy opposition movement formed an
11-member sovereign council to lead the country through a three-year
transitional period towards civilian rule.
Burhan, who chaired the TMC after former president Omar al-Bashir was
ousted in an April military coup, has a long-standing military
career, with positions as former commander of Sudan's ground forces
and inspector general of the army.
Born in 1960, Burhan will lead the Sovereign Council, made up of six
civilians and five TMC officers, for the next 21 months.
A civilian will take over from Burhan for the remaining 18 months
until 2022, when democratic elections are due.
A prime minister and the remaining members of the Sovereign Council
are expected to be sworn in later in the day.
A spokesman for the TMC announced the names of the members of the
council in a televised address late Tuesday.
The council was formed after a power-sharing deal was signed between
the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) and the military on August
17, regulating how power is divided.
The deal gives the pro-democracy movement two-thirds of the seats in
Sudan's Legislative Council and the power to select the prime
minister. The military council will have the power to choose the
interior and defence ministers.
The interim government follows months of massive pro-democracy
demonstrations in Sudan. The protests initially led to the ousting of
al-Bashir, who had ruled the country in north-eastern Africa for
three decades with an iron fist.
Protesters continued to call for civilian rule in the wake of his
replacement by the TMC.