Assad names new PM in Syria

SYRIAN President Bashar al-Assad has appointed Adel Safar, who served as agriculture minister in the government which resigned last week, to form a new government, an official Syrian source said yesterday.

He said Safar was expected to announce his new cabinet within two days. Assad accepted the resignation of Naji al-Otari’s government on Tuesday after a wave of protests in which witnesses and activists say 60 people have been killed.

The government has little influence in Syria, where power is held by Assad, his family and the security apparatus.