Assad reshuffles cabinet; warplanes raid Damascus

Damascus, Feb 9 (AFP) President Bashar al-Assad reshuffled his cabinet today even as regime warplanes raided rebel areas in a bid to end the stalemate in Syria's deadly civil war while hopes for a political solution appeared to founder. Syria is in the depths of an unprecedented economic recession because of the violence gripping the country for nearly two years, and the latest government reshuffle focused on finance and social affairs portfolios. The World Bank says the country's gross domestic product has shrunk 20 per cent, and the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) puts unemployment at 37 per cent and possibly hitting 50 per cent by the end of 2013. Assad changed seven ministers, the official SANA news agency reported. It said he split the ministry of labour and social affairs into two, and brought in a woman, Kinda Shmat, to head the latter. Hassan Hijazi becomes labour minister. Ismail Ismail becomes finance minister and Sleiman Abbas takes the oil and mineral resources portfolio. The housing and urban development, agriculture and public works ministers also changed. Assad has announced several reshuffles since the uprising against his rule began, the most recent in August 2012. Efforts towards finding a political solution to the conflict, which the UN says has killed more than 60,000 people, appeared to be deadlocked, hours after Damascus offered talks without preconditions. The opposition has demanded Assad's departure be the focus of any talks. Opposition Syrian National Coalition had said on February 1, the day after an offer of dialogue by its leader Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib, that any talks on the country's political future must be about the departure of the regime. In the latest fighting, air raids today hit northern and eastern areas outlying the capital, amid fighting between loyalist troops and insurgents, a watchdog said. Warplanes also hit the town of Sabineh south of Damascus, and fierce clashes broke out between rebels and troops in the embattled town of Daraya, where the army shelled insurgent positions, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.(AFP) KKM 02092143 NNNN