Sudans joint sovereign council, headed by Aisha Mousa, paid a visit to former regime figures held in Kobar Prison, north of the capital Khartoum. Among the prisoners visited was deposed president Omar al-Bashir. Mousa, speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, said that the visit was intended to dispel doubts on whether the ex-regime elites were indeed imprisoned. She noted that the delegation met with Bashir in private. According to official statements, 23 of the former regimes top figures are imprisoned. The visit followed a formal request made by Mousa to verify their presence in jail and provide them with fair trials. Separately, insider sources predicted that ministers of the transitional government will be named in the coming few days. A source at the sovereign council, who requested anonymity, revealed that consultations on the future cabinet members have been completed. They added that a list submitted by the opposition Freedom and Change Alliance (FCA) to the Transitional Military Council (TMC) was approved with no candidates being dropped. Meanwhile, a meeting brought FCA officials together with Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok to polish the portfolios of the new ministries. Hamdoks planned government is expected to be composed of 19 ministries, rather than 14, and five higher councils‏. The new cabinet was expected to be unveiled on Saturday and sworn in on September 1, but several difficulties, such as FCA inner differences, obstructed politicians from making the deadline. FCA differences first delayed the selection of a handful of candidates and the process was then further stretched by the TMCs demand to be consulted on the matter.