Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Wednesday issued a decision appointing First Vice-President Bakri Hassan Saleh as Prime Minister.

According to the decision, Saleh would hold both posts of First Vice-President and Prime Minister.

Presidential Assistant Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid, speaking to reporters following a meeting of the leadership office of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) Wednesday, said that al-Bashir, who chaired the meeting, decided to select Saleh as first vice-president and prime minister.

Saleh had served ministerial and political posts, including chief of Sudan's national security service, presidential adviser for security affairs, minister of interior, minister of defence and minister of presidency before becoming the first-vice-president in December 2013.

The Sudanese national dialogue conference, which concluded in October last year, recommended introduction of a post of prime minister, where the Sudanese parliament endorsed last December some constitutional amendments including the new post.

On Tuesday, the committee entrusted with implementation of outcomes of the national dialogue met with al-Bashir and officially approved the post of prime minister to go for the ruling NCP.

(Xinhua News Agency March 2, 2017)