Syrian president approves new gov't formation

DAMASCUS -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad announced in a presidential decree the formation of a new government on Monday, the Syrian state news agency SANA reported on Monday.

The reshuffle included key ministries, namely the ministries of information, foreign affairs, economy, finance, industry, health, and electricity.

Bassam al-Sabbagh, former deputy foreign minister, replaced Faisal Mekdad to be the foreign minister. In another decree, Mekdad was appointed as vice president, tasked with implementing foreign and media policy under the president's directives.

Ziad Ghossoun, former director general of the Al-Wahda Printing and Publishing Organization, one of the largest print media publishers in Syria, was named the new information minister.

The new government formation follows a decree issued by al-Assad on Saturday, in which he named former Communications Minister Mohammed Ghazi Jalali as the new prime minister and tasked him with forming the government after July's parliamentary elections.

Jalali, 55, has been under the European Union's sanctions since October 2014.