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Sudan’s Minister of Religious Affairs and Endowments Nasruddin Mufreh assured citizenship was the foundation of rights and duties, during comments aired on Al-Arabiya television, declaring “it wasn't extremist to call for a citizen to return to his country, but it was extremist to reject such a request.”

A report by Israel’s i24 news website added the minister had pledged to “return churches and Jewish places of worship”.

Sudan swore in a new sovereign council and appointed a prime minister in August, replacing the Transitional Military Council (TMC) that took charge after months of deadly street protests brought down longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir in April.

The cabinet will reportedly feature just four women ministers in contrast with the prime minister's assurances of "gender balance" earlier this week.

Last month, a Coptic Christian woman was named as the second woman to fill the 11-member Sudan sovereign council just a day before the new council was sworn in.

Aisha Musa Saeed was announced as a member of the council after generals and protest leaders agreed on the Coptic Christian woman's nomination.

She is one of the 11 members of Sudan's ruling body, made up of six civilians and five soldiers as the country transitions into democracy.

Aisha is currently a judge and studied as a translator at the University of Leeds in the UK.

Restoring stability to a country still plagued by deadly unrest in the regions of Darfur, Kordofan and Blue Nile will be one of the most urgent tasks of Sudan's transitional institutions.

The ruling council is expected to seek to have the country removed from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism.

The other daunting challenge that awaits the fragile civilian-military alliance is the rescue of an economy that has all but collapsed in recent years.

It was the sudden tripling of bread prices in December 2018 that sparked the wave of protests fatal to Bashir's regime.

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