Assad names a new prime minister as fighting rages on

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Bashar al-Assad has appointed Riad Hijab as new prime minister, tasking him with forming a government, as armed rebels continued to go on the offensive in and around Damascus.

There were also reports of clashes between Syrian troops and residents of the broder town of Arsal in eastern Lebanon after a Lebanese man was killed and two wounded at dawn.

The appointment of Mr Hijab comes after a new parliament was voted in on May 7 in elections boycotted by opposition groups.

Syrian  foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi confirmed the report on Twitter, saying, “Dr Riad Hijab is the new prime minister of Syria and will form the new government.”

Former agriculture minister Mr Hijab, 46, replaces former premier Adel Safar, who had formed his government in April 2011, one month after an Arab Spring-inspired uprising erupted across Syria, shaking the regime which responded with force.

According to figures of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, more than 13,500 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the uprising.

Mr Hijab was born in Syria’s eastern Deir Ezzor province and holds a PhD in engineering. He was appointed minister of agriculture in April 2011.

Prior to that, from 2004 to 2008, he served as head of the Ba’ath party in Deir Ezzor. He later became the governor of Quneitra province, near the border with Israel, and subsequently the governor of Latakia.

He is married with four children.

Hijab’s appointment comes days after a defiant Assad dismissed allegations that his government had a hand in last month’s Houla massacre and accused foreign-backed forces of plotting to destroy Syria.

“What happened in Houla and elsewhere are brutal massacres which even monsters would not have carried out,” Assad told the parliament on Sunday of the May 25 killing of 108 people, including 49 children, near the central town of Houla.

“The masks have fallen and the international role in the Syrian events is now obvious,” he said in his first address to the assembly since the parliamentary election.

The polls were the perfect response “to the criminal killers and those who finance them,” Assad said, stressing that his regime was determined to push through reforms but not at the expense of security.

Meanwhile The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said violent clashes broke out in the Damascus suburb of Harasta overnight between regime troops and rebel forces.

The battles were “violent,” the monitoring group said, adding that “rebel forces clashed with troops at military intelligence headquarters and at a checkpoint.”

Rebel forces also clashed with regime troops at checkpoints near Douma, Irbin and Zamalka, all in the Damascus region, the Britain-based watchdog said.

Battles and shootings also erupted in several other neighbourhoods of the capital, including Tishreen.

Telegraph

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26 responses to “Assad names a new prime minister as fighting rages on”

  1. MeYosemite Avatar
    MeYosemite

    Weird looking faces. Is Assad picture photoshopped or that is the way he looks now?

    1. MeYosemite Avatar
      MeYosemite

      Those long ears remind me of something.

      1. breakthemould Avatar
        breakthemould

         You must also examine the length of the nose in case it is pink and reminds you of some one else!

        1. breakthemould Avatar
          breakthemould

          If the photos were tampered with then it must be the terrorists.

    2. 5thDrawer Avatar
      5thDrawer

      Neither is getting out for sun these days … and Assad’s tanning-lamp was made in China. 😉

      1. breakthemould Avatar
        breakthemould

         Frowning is the order of the day in Syria now – Sadly and the new prime minister is showing the nation how to do it!
        The could have chosen Bouthaina. The media would have stopped and watched the first woman prime minister in the Arab World and that would have taken the heat away from the massacres. God help us!

        1. breakthemould Avatar
          breakthemould

           Or Muallem as further evidence that the regime ate all the food good things left and still available in Syria.

        2. MeYosemite Avatar
          MeYosemite

          His facial expression, double chin and all, as if he is sitting on something sharp.

    3. breakthemould Avatar
      breakthemould

       You mean – Ahbal? or like some one took his toy away from him?

  2. MeYosemite Avatar
    MeYosemite

    Weird looking faces. Is Assad picture photoshopped or that is the way he looks now?

    1. MeYosemite Avatar
      MeYosemite

      Those long ears remind me of something.

      1. breakthemould Avatar
        breakthemould

         You must also examine the length of the nose in case it is pink and reminds you of some one else!

        1. breakthemould Avatar
          breakthemould

          If the photos were tampered with then it must be the terrorists.

    2. 5thDrawer Avatar
      5thDrawer

      Neither is getting out for sun these days … and Assad’s tanning-lamp was made in China. 😉

  3. MeYosemite Avatar
    MeYosemite

    Weird looking faces. Is Assad picture photoshopped or that is the way he looks now?

    1. MeYosemite Avatar
      MeYosemite

      Those long ears remind me of something.

      1. breakthemould Avatar
        breakthemould

         You must also examine the length of the nose in case it is pink and reminds you of some one else!

        1. breakthemould Avatar
          breakthemould

          If the photos were tampered with then it must be the terrorists.

    2. 5thDrawer Avatar
      5thDrawer

      Neither is getting out for sun these days … and Assad’s tanning-lamp was made in China. 😉

      1. breakthemould Avatar
        breakthemould

         Frowning is the order of the day in Syria now – Sadly and the new prime minister is showing the nation how to do it!
        The could have chosen Bouthaina. The media would have stopped and watched the first woman prime minister in the Arab World and that would have taken the heat away from the massacres. God help us!

        1. breakthemould Avatar
          breakthemould

           Or Muallem as further evidence that the regime ate all the food good things left and still available in Syria.

        2. MeYosemite Avatar
          MeYosemite

          His facial expression, double chin and all, as if s sitting

    3. breakthemould Avatar
      breakthemould

       You mean – Ahbal? or like some one took his toy away from him?

  4. Fauzia45 Avatar
    Fauzia45

    This will not help as long as he ignores that the people want change,want freedom , freedom of expression  and as long as he continues to say that he is fighting ¨a conspiracy ¨!!!!

  5. Fauzia45 Avatar
    Fauzia45

    This will not help as long as he ignores that the people want change,want freedom , freedom of expression  and as long as he continues to say that he is fighting ¨a conspiracy ¨!!!!

  6. Fauzia45 Avatar
    Fauzia45

    This will not help as long as he ignores that the people want change,want freedom , freedom of expression  and as long as he continues to say that he is fighting ¨a conspiracy ¨!!!!

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