KHARTOUMandnbsp;Sat Dec 7, 2013 2:46pm EST

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d=20131207andamp;t=2andamp;i=818330470andamp;w=580andamp;fh=andamp;fw=andamp;ll=andamp;pl=andamp;r=CBRE9B61GUW00" alt="Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir gives an address at the opening of the eighth session of Parliament in Khartoum October 28, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah" style="display: block; width: 580px;" border="0">

Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir gives an address at the opening of the eighth session of Parliament in Khartoum October 28, 2013.

CREDIT: REUTERS/MOHAMED NURELDIN ABDALLAH

(Reuters) - Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir announced the resignation of First Vice President Ali Taha on Saturday, state media reported, the first move in a cabinet reshuffle to be announced later in the day.

Taha held the country's second-highest political position as first vice president and was the main negotiator in Sudan's Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005 which brought an end to the Sudanese civil war.

"(He) resigned to make space for the youth and there are no conflicts between us," state media quoted Bashir as saying.

Bashir is currently holding a meeting with the office of the ruling National Congress Party leaders to approve the cabinet reshuffle.

Taha had announced in November that the government plans to carry out a major cabinet reshuffle, a move apparently aimed at appeasing protesters after fuel price increases provoked the country's worst unrest in years.

The government cut fuel subsidies to ease a financial crunch aggravated by the secession of oil-producing South Sudan in 2011. Dozens of people were killed and more than 700 arrested when protests erupted after pump prices doubled overnight.

(Reporting by Khaled Abdelaziz; Writing by Asma Alsharif; Editing by Pravin Char)

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