BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday issued a decree appointing new ministers for defense, industry and information, state television reported.
He appointed General Ali Abdullah Ayoub as defense minister, Mohammed Mazen Ali Yousef as industry minister and Imad Abullah Sarah as information minister, state television reported, citing the decree.
Ayoub, who was previously chief of staff in the army, is a member of Assad’s Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi‘ite Islam. He replaces Fahad Jassim al-Freij.
The new information minister, Sarah, was previously the head of Syria radio and television.
Changes of senior ministers are not unusual in Syria. The shake-up of senior military positions comes after a year of battlefield victories against anti-Assad rebels and Islamic State.