Sudan's newly appointed prime minister is launching an independent investigation into June's deadly crackdown on protesters that killed dozens.

Abdalla Hamdok said late Saturday the seven-member committee includes a top judge, an independent figure and two attorneys.

The justice, defense and interior ministries will be represented on the committee which should conclude its probe within six months.

In June, security forces killed dozens of pro-democracy protesters when they violently dispersed a sit-in outside the military's headquarters in the capital, Khartoum.

Protest leaders demanded the establishment of an independent inquiry as part of a subsequent power-sharing agreement with the military.

An investigation by Sudanese prosecutors in July said the Transitional Military Council, which ruled at the time, did not order the deadly break-up, but blamed the widely condemned dispersal on paramilitary forces who exceeded their orders.

*This story was edited by Ahram Online