New Syrian government announced as Syrian President orders release of detainees

Recently appointed Syrian Prime Minister Adel Safar formed a new government on Thursday, which was promulgated in a decree by President Bashar al-Assad.
  
Mohammed Naji Otri, who had been in office since 2003, resigned on March 29 and Safar, the then agricultural minister, was named on April 3 to replace him.

According to SANA, the new government is composed as follows:
-Prime Minister: Dr. Adel Safar
-Minister of Defense: Lt. General Ali Habib
-Foreign Minister, Minister of Expatriates: Walid al-Moallem
-Minister of Oil and Mineral Resources: Engineer Sufian Allaw
-Minister of Communications and Technology: Dr. Imad Abdel-Ghani Sabouni
-Minister of Endowments (Awqaf): Mohammad Abdul-Sattar al-Sayyed
-Minister of Local Administration: Omar Ibrahim Ghalawanji
-Minister of Presidential Affairs Mansour Fadlallah Azzam
-Minister of Tourism: Lamia Merei Assi
-Minister of Culture: Mohammad Riyad Hussein Ismat
-Minister of Irrigation: George Malki Sawmi
-Minister of Justice: Judge Tayseer Qala Awwad
-Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform: Riyad Fareed Hijab
-Minister of Social Affairs and Labor: Ridwan al-Habib
-Minister of Higher Education: Abdul-Razzaq Sheikh Issa
-Minister of Interior: Mohammad Ibrahim al-Shaar
-Minister of Finance: Mohammad al-Jleilati
-Minister of Economy and Trade: Mohammad Nidal al-Shaar
-Minister of Education: Saleh al-Rashed
-Minister of Health: Wael Nader al-Halki
-Minister of Housing and Construction: Hala Mohammad al-Nasser
-Minister of Transport: Fayssal Abbas
-Minister of Electricity: Imad Mohammad Deeb Khamis
-Minister of Information: Adnan Hasan Mahmoud
-Minister of Industry: Adnan Salakho
-State Minister for Environmental Affairs: Kawkab al-Sabah Daya
-State Minister: Youssef Sleiman Ahmad
-State Minister: Ghiyath Jaratli
-State Minister: Hussein Mahmoud Farzat
-State Minister: Joseph Sweid
-State Minister: Hassan al-Sari

The new government will take responsibility of addressing the issues that affect people's lives and livelihoods as part of the reforms President Bahsar Al-Assad had promised.

This comes as security authorities released nearly a hundred people who had been arrested in Banias after a women protest was held demanding the release of detainees in the coastal region. The Syrian army had told Banias residents that it would enter the city, but had promised there would be no attacks by the military. The deal was intended to help calm the city, home to one of Syria's two oil refineries, ahead of Friday prayers.
In a related development, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad ordered the release of all detainees arrested in the recent wave of protests, except for those who committed crimes "against the nation and the citizens," state television said. "President Assad decides to release all those detained after recent events who did not commit crimes against the nation and the citizens," state television said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, an official source said an armed group of snipers opened fire at a number of army soldiers while on patrol in Baniyas.

Soldier Fadi Issa Mostapha was martyred, and soldier Tayseer Omran was wounded at the hands of the criminal group, SANA reported.