Syrian president reshuffles economic Cabinet posts

Syria's state media is reporting that President Bashar Assad has reshuffled his Cabinet, appointing new ministers to handle an economy ravaged by two years of uprising and civil war.     

State TV said the ministries that were changed are those of oil, finance, social affairs, labor and agriculture. Key security ministries such as defense and interior remained unchanged.     

Saturday's announcement comes amid major shortages of fuel, electricity and bread.

The US dollar today exchanges for around 95 Syrian pounds at the black market, about half its value of 47 pounds to the dollar when the crisis began in March 2011.

Earlier,US Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday said the Obama administration was evaluating new options to halt Syria's civil war.

In his first news conference as secretary, he said the US was looking at the crisis anew, hoping to find a diplomatic solution.But Kerry sidestepped specifically addressing a question over providing military assistance to those fighting President Bashar Assad's regime.

Defence Secretary Leon Panetta and General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Congress on Thursday that they had recommended offering military support to the rebels but were rebuffed by President Barack Obama.

"I don't know what the discussions were in the White House and who said what, and I'm not going to go backwards. This is a new administration now, the president's second term, I'm a new secretary of state and we're going forwards from this point," Kerry told reporters alongside Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird.


On the field:

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that warplanes shelled on Saturday regions in Damascus Reef while clashes continued between regime forces and rebels on the outskirts of the capital.

Earlier during the night, a blast was heard in the Ruken Al-Din neighborhood northern Damascus. According to observatory, the explosion targeted a military checkpoint.
AP


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