Christian woman sworn onto Sudan's transitional council

Aisha Musa Saeed is a Coptic woman who has been elected as the 11th member of Sudan's transitional council.

1 min read

21 August, 2019

Sudan is taking a step closer to leaving military rule [Getty]

A Coptic Christian woman was named as the 11th member of Sudan's sovereign council on Tuesday just a day before the council was sworn in.

Aisha Musa Saeed was announced as a member of the council after generals and protest leaders agreed on the Coptic Christian woman's nomination.

She will be one of the 11 members of Sudan's ruling body, made up of six civilians and five soldiers as the country transitions into democracy.

Aisha is currently a judge and studied as a translator at the University of Leeds in the UK.

On Wednesday, Sudan swore in a new sovereign council and appointed a prime minister.

The body replaces the Transitional Military Council (TMC) that took charge after months of deadly street protests brought down longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir in April.

The first steps of the transition after the mass celebrations that marked the 17 August adoption of a transitional constitution proved difficult however.

General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who already headed the TMC, was sworn in as the chairman of the new sovereign council shortly after 11am local time (9am GMT).