Syrian premier resigns

SYRIAN President Bashar al-Assad has accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa Miro and asked parliament speaker Mohammed Naji Otri to form a new government, the state news agency SANA said yesterday.

Mr Assad asked the outgoing government, formed in December 2001, to “quickly complete the outstanding tasks on its agenda until a new government is formed”.

The resignation of the government headed by Mr Miro had been expected since Mr Assad’s announcement in early August that a new government would soon be formed to accelerate political and economic reforms.