Amid the defection of several high-ranking government officials, Syrian President Basher Assad appointed three new ministers and a governor for the embattled province of Aleppo on Thursday according to Syrian state media.
The Syrian president appointed Dr. Adnan Abdo al-Sukhni as Minister of Industry, Najm hamad al-Ahmad as Minister of Justice and Saa'd Abdel-Salam al-Nayef as Minister of Health.
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console.log("catid body is "+catID);if(catID==120){document.getElementsByClassName("divConnatix")[0].style.display ="none";var script = document.createElement('script'); script.src = 'https://player.anyclip.com/anyclip-widget/lre-widget/prod/v1/src/lre.js'; script.setAttribute('pubname','jpostcom'); script.setAttribute('widgetname','0011r00001lcD1i_12258'); document.getElementsByClassName('divAnyClip')[0].appendChild(script);}else if(catID!=69 && catID!=2){ document.getElementsByClassName("divConnatix")[0].style.display ="none"; var script = document.createElement('script'); script.src = 'https://static.vidazoo.com/basev/vwpt.js'; script.setAttribute('data-widget-id','60fd6becf6393400049e6535'); document.getElementsByClassName('divVidazoo')[0].appendChild(script); }Mohammad Waheed Aqqad, former deputy minister of Aleppo, was appointed as governor of the province, which includes Syria's biggest city and a flashpoint between Assad and rebel forces.
Assad is in the midst of battling a popular uprising and defections from within his regime; the death toll from the uprising is estimated to be as high as 22,000 according to opposition sources.