Syrian President Al Sharaa forms new transitional government

Syrian President Ahmed Al Sharaa announced a transitional government, 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.

The cabinet does not have a prime minister since according to the temporary constitution signed by Al Sharaa earlier this month, the government will have a secretary general.

"The formation of a new government today is a declaration of our joint will to build a new state," Sharaa said in a speech marking the formation of the government.

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.

It kept Murhaf Abu Qasra and Asaad Al Shibani, who were already serving as defence and foreign ministers respectively in the previous caretaker cabinet that has governed Syria since Assad was toppled in December by a lightning rebel offensive.

Sharaa also said he established for the first time a ministry for sports and another for emergencies, with the head of a rescue group known as the White Helmets, Raed Al Saleh, appointed as the minister of emergencies.

Defence Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra said his main goal will be to build a professional army "from the people and for the people."

The government did not include members of the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces or the autonomous civil administration in northeast Syria.

Sharaa and SDF commander Mazloum Abdi signed a breakthrough deal earlier this month in Damascus on a nationwide ceasefire and the merging of the US-backed force into the Syrian army.

In January, Sharaa was named as interim president and pledged to form an inclusive transitional government that would build up Syria's gutted public institutions and run the country until elections, which he said could take up to five years to hold.

The government will not have a prime minister, with Sharaa expected to lead the executive branch.

Earlier this month, Syria issued a constitutional declaration, designed to serve as the foundation for the interim period led by Sharaa.

The declaration kept a central role for Islamic law and guaranteed women's rights and freedom of expression.

Agencies