Syria’s State-run news agency is reporting that President Bashar Assad has reappointed premier Wael al-Halqi to form a new Government.
SANA says Assad issued a decree on Sunday tasking al-Halqi to form the new Cabinet. Al-Halqi automatically became a caretaker premier following June presidential elections in which Assad claimed a new seven-year term in office. The vote was confined to Government-controlled areas and dismissed by the opposition and its Western allies as a sham. In his inauguration speech on July 16, he confidently declared victory and praised his supporters for “defeating the dirty war.”