SUDAN NEWS ALERT: AFP - Asma Abdalla: Sudan’s first woman foreign minister

9/9/19: AFP - Asma Abdalla: Sudan’s first woman foreign minister

 AFP profiles Asma Abadalla, the seasoned diplomat who was sacked decades ago by now ousted leader Omar Al Bashir, who has now become Sudan’s first female foreign minister.

 Abdalla was one of the first three women to join Sudan’s foreign ministry as a diplomat after graduating from Khartoum University in 1971 with a degree in economics and political science.

 Abdalla served as a diplomat in several overseas Sudanese missions, including at the UN, in Morocco and Stockholm.

 But she was sacked in 1991 by Al Bashir’s government, after which she worked in regional organisations including the Arab League.

 Experts say a priority for Abdalla as foreign minister would be to navigate negotiations with Washington on removing Sudan from the terrorism blacklist.

The other key foreign policy file for Khartoum is Cairo, with whom Sudan has often had strained ties due to trade and border issues.