Meet Omer Siddig, Sudan's new foreign minister, former ambassador to China
General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has appointed veteran diplomat Omer Siddig as Sudan's new minister of foreign affairs, filling the role following the dismissal of his predecessor, Ali Youssif, in mid-April.
Sudan’s de facto leader, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, approved the appointment of Omer Mohamed Siddig — a veteran diplomat who served as a former ambassador to China and the United Nations — as the country’s new foreign minister Wednesday.
What happened: The Transitional Sovereignty Council (TSC) announced the appointment in a statement posted to X on Wednesday, which read: "The Chairman of the Transitional Sovereignty Council approves the Cabinet’s decision to appoint Ambassador Omer Mohamed Ahmed Siddig as Minister of Foreign Affairs."
Siddig will succeed Ali Youssif, who was dismissed earlier this month, and will be the fourth person to hold the post since the outbreak of conflict in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The foreign ministry has seen frequent turnover throughout the war. Wednesday’s announcement came amid several other new appointments, including Al-Tahami Al-Zain Hajar Muhammad as education minister and Dafallah Al-Haj Ali as minister of cabinet affairs.
Know more: Before his latest appointment, Siddig had served as Sudan’s ambassador to China since 2022. In a March 2024 interview with China’s CGTN, he praised Chinese companies' role in infrastructure development in Sudan and particularly their role in Sudan’s oil industry.
