Syria's president al-Sharaa forms new transitional government

30/3/2025 14:41

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa announced a transitional government on Saturday, appointing 23 ministers in a broadened cabinet seen as a key milestone in the transition from decades of Assad family rule and to improving Syria's ties with the West.



Syria's new Sunni Islamist-led authorities have been under pressure from the West and Arab countries to form a government that is more inclusive of the country's diverse ethnic and religious communities.



That pressure increased following the killings of hundreds of Alawite civilians - the minority sect from which toppled leader Bashar al-Assad hails - in violence along Syria's western coast this month.



The cabinet included Yarub Badr, an Alawite who was named transportation minister, while Amgad Badr, who belongs to the Druze community, will lead the agriculture ministry.



Hind Kabawat, a Christian woman and part of the previous opposition to Assad who worked for interfaith tolerance and women's empowerment, was appointed as social affairs and labor minister.



Mohammed Yosr Bernieh was named finance minister.