Syrian President Bashar Assad reshuffled his Cabinet yesterday, naming eight first-time ministers to key posts such as interior, economy and information in an apparent bid to revive the country's staggering reforms. Ghazi Kanaan, a former head of Syrian military security and intelligence in Lebanon, was named interior minister, the official Syrian Arab News Agency reported. "It is an expected change that comes as a step in the reform process," said analyst Imad Al-Shuaibi. "It does not necessarily indicate a problem in the performance of outgoing ministers ... it reflects the desire for improved performance." The interior portfolio change comes eight days after the assassination in Damascus of an official of Hamas. Syria blamed Israel for the killing and Israeli media, citing unidentified security sources, also said Israel was behind it.
The reshuffle of the one-year-old Cabinet handed the information portfolio to Mahdi Dakheelallah, the editor in chief of the Baath ruling party's newspaper. Amer Lotfi, the manager of the state-owned cotton exporter in Aleppo, replaced Ghassan Al-Rifai, a former World Bank official, as economy and commerce minister. Rifai was in the first Cabinet appointed by Assad after he assumed power in 2000 succeeding his late father Hafez Assad. The industry portfolio went to Ghassan Tayara, the country's engineers' syndicate chief. The reshuffle also included the portfolios of health, Islamic endowments, justice and social affairs, and labor. |