20111212
Press TV
Sudan has declared the establishment of a new broad-based government after ministers took oath before the President Omer al-Bashir, Press TV reports.

The government sworn in at the Republican Palace in Khartoum includes representatives from 14 political parties in addition to the National Congress Party.

“A new government under a new mandate after the South seceded. We now have accepted this new appointment for the sake of the country. We have our role to play in defending our country,” Sudan's Information Minister Abdullah Ali Masar said.

The declaration of a new Sudanese government had been delayed since South Sudan gained its independence last July due to intense talks between political parties.

South Sudan became independent on July 9 after decades of conflict with Sudan, in which over 1.5 million people died.

Earlier, the two sides announced their readiness to end their dispute through negotiations and enhanced cooperation.

A historic peace agreement between Sudan and South Sudan signed in 2005 paved the way for an independence referendum in January 2011, in which southerners voted almost unanimously to secede.

The new oil-rich nation is one of the least developed countries in the world, where one in every seven children dies before the age of five.