Damascus, Aug 23 (IANS) A day after Syrian opposition activists blamed the Bashar al-Assad government of using chemical weapons and killing hundreds of people, the president ordered a minor reshuffle in the government.
The shake-up focused on economic-related ministries, as the country's economy has severely suffered from the long-standing conflict and economic sanctions, Xinhua reported Thursday.
Qadri Jamil, former minister for domestic trade, has been appointed as deputy prime minister for the economic affairs. He was replaced by Samir Izzat as the new minister for domestic trade.
Among others, Khudr Orfally took the ministry of commerce, as Kamal Addien Toume assumed the post of minister for industry. The Ministry of Tourism has been given to Bishr Yazaji, as Malek al- Ali took the Ministry of High Education.