Congo president appoints son as minister

The son of long-serving Congo-Brazzaville President Denis Sassou Nguesso has been named minister in a new cabinet line-up.

Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso will head the newly created ministry of international cooperation.

The new government, announced by Prime Minister Anatole Collinet Makosso, has 36 members including four ministers and eight women.

The new appointments follow the president’s re-election in March.

The president has been in power since 1979, except for a five-year period after losing elections in 1992. (BBC)