ALBAWABA - Ethiopia has named intelligence chief Temesgen as the new deputy Prime Minister.
An AFP journalist reported that Ethiopian lawmakers approved the appointment of intelligence chief Temesgen Tiruneh as the country's new deputy prime minister on Thursday.
MPs also endorsed Taye Atske Selassie, Ethiopia's former ambassador to the United Nations and current diplomatic adviser to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, as foreign minister.
Demeke Mekonnen previously held both positions but was removed as vice-president of Abiy's ruling Prosperity Party late last month in a move that foreshadowed the appointments on Thursday.
Temesgen's replacement as head of the National Intelligence and Security Service has yet to be announced. Demeke had been deputy prime minister since 2012, shortly after being elected vice-president of the EPRDF, the coalition that ruled for nearly three decades before Abiy came to power in 2018.
He had been appointed foreign minister in November 2020, at the start of the two-year war against Tigrayan rebels in northern Ethiopia.
