KHARTOUM, October 17, SPA -- Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir demoted his foreign minister and reshuffled the cabinetWednesday. The southern Sudanese People's Liberation Movement pulledout of the government last week and called for a number ofchanges, including the removal of Foreign Minister Lam Akolwhom they saw as too close to the northern government. Akol, who often appeared in public forums defending thecountry's controversial policy in the war torn Darfurregion, swapped places with Deng Alor, the cabinet affairsminister. Alor, who hails from the disputed Abyei territory, is ahigh ranking member of the southern rebel Sudanese People'sLiberation Movement, which last week froze itsparticipation in the government to protest peace treatyviolations. The other significant change was the appointment ofpresidential adviser Mansour Khalid, a former foreignminister known for his pro-American tendencies andcloseness to the SPLA, to the post of minister of foreigntrade. The reshuffle, which included changes of two presidentialadvisers and 12 ministers, was seen as an effort to bringthe SPLA back into the government and prevent adisintegration of the country's fragile 2005 peaceagreement that ended a 20-year civil war between north andsouth, the Associated Press reported.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/491040