Syria Sets First Cabinet Reshuffle Since Assad Ouster, State Media Reportshttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5271498-syria-sets-first-cabinet-reshuffle-assad-ouster-state-media-reports
Syria Sets First Cabinet Reshuffle Since Assad Ouster, State Media Reports
This handout photo provided by Syria's SANA news agency's Telegram channel on May 9, 2026, shows Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa meeting with the Lebanese Prime Minister (unseen) at the People's Palace in Damascus. (SANA / AFP)
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Syria Sets First Cabinet Reshuffle Since Assad Ouster, State Media Reports
This handout photo provided by Syria's SANA news agency's Telegram channel on May 9, 2026, shows Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa meeting with the Lebanese Prime Minister (unseen) at the People's Palace in Damascus. (SANA / AFP)
Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa announced a series of government changes in late-night presidential decrees published by state news agency SANA.
Sharaa appointed Khaled Zaarour as information minister, replacing Hamza Mustafa, who was moved to the foreign ministry. As agriculture minister, he named Bassel Sweidan, who also heads a committee tasked with reaching settlement agreements with business tycoons linked to the Assad-era elite.
Sharaa replaced governors in the provinces of Homs, al-Quneitra and Deir Ezzor, the eastern province where most of Syria’s oil fields are located.
The reshuffle is the first since the ouster of former President Bashar al-Assad and comes around a year and a half into the five-year transitional period set out in Syria’s constitutional declaration.
No official reason was given for the changes, but protests and social media campaigns have emerged in recent months over worsening economic conditions and what critics describe as poor government performance.
Sharaa also appointed a new secretary-general for the presidency, a post previously held by one of his brothers, a move that had drawn criticism from opponents who accused the administration of favoring nepotism over merit.
Syria: Trial of ‘Daraa Criminal’ Atef Najib Resumes on Sundayhttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5271512-syria-trial-%E2%80%98daraa-criminal%E2%80%99-atef-najib-resumes-sunday
Atef Najib, a brigadier general and former head of the Political Security Directorate in Daraa during Syria's ousted President Bashar al-Assad's rule, who is accused of committing war crimes, attends a trial session at the Palace of Justice, in Damascus, Syria, April 26, 2026. (Reuters)
Syria: Trial of ‘Daraa Criminal’ Atef Najib Resumes on Sunday
Atef Najib, a brigadier general and former head of the Political Security Directorate in Daraa during Syria's ousted President Bashar al-Assad's rule, who is accused of committing war crimes, attends a trial session at the Palace of Justice, in Damascus, Syria, April 26, 2026. (Reuters)
The trial of former Syrian security official Atef Najib, accused by residents of Daraa of overseeing brutal repression at the start of the 2011 uprising, is due to resume Sunday as Syria presses ahead with efforts to prosecute crimes committed under the former regime.
Najib, a cousin of ousted president Bashar al-Assad, previously headed the Political Security Directorate in Daraa, the southern province where anti-government protests first erupted.
Prosecutors said they have extensive evidence against him, including witness testimony, police reports and documentation gathered from media coverage and social media.
Sunday’s session at the Justice Palace in Damascus is set to focus on Najib’s questioning. Several plaintiffs from Daraa and local and international media are expected to attend.
The case centers on events that helped ignite the uprising in March 2011, including the arrest and alleged torture of about 20 boys accused of writing anti-government graffiti on school walls.
A picture of Hamza al-Khatib and another child who died in Daraa in 2011 is displayed during Atef Najib's trial on April 26, 2026. (SANA)
One of the former detainees, Youssef Sweidan, told Asharq Al-Awsat he was subjected to severe torture during his detention in February 2011 to force him to confess to charges he described as false.
He added that his father was later arrested because he refused to change his testimony and that the family still has no information about his fate.
“Atef Najib is a war criminal,” Sweidan declared, accusing security officers of beating detained children with iron hammers and crushing their fingers.
Lawyer Noha al-Masri, a member of a five-lawyer prosecution committee handling the case before the Criminal Court, noted that around 46 people have so far registered as personal plaintiffs.
Masri told Asharq Al-Awsat that her own brother was killed at the start of the uprising.
She explained that moving the case to the Criminal Court encouraged more victims’ families to file complaints in hopes of securing accountability for killings and abuses committed during the uprising’s early days.
According to Masri, prosecutors have collected testimony from witnesses and former members of Syria’s security apparatus who were present during the unrest and who allegedly confirmed that security forces opened fire on unarmed civilians.
People gather in the hall of the Palace of Justice during the first trial session of Atef Najib, former head of the Political Security Directorate in the Daraa area during Bashar Assad's rule, in Damascus, Syria, Sunday, April 26, 2026. (AP)
The case file also addresses several incidents from the early months of the uprising, including the March 2011 assault on the Omari Mosque in Daraa, where about nine people were killed when security forces stormed the compound.
More civilians were killed during funeral processions after mourners came under gunfire, according to the prosecution.
The prosecution is also investigating what became known locally as the “Gas Station Massacre,” in which around 30 people were killed, as well as the April 25, 2011 assault on Daraa al-Balad, when residents were reportedly unable to bury victims immediately and instead stored bodies in refrigerated trucks.
The case additionally includes allegations surrounding the killing of members of the Abazid family, described by prosecutors as one of the country’s first mass grave cases linked to the conflict.
Report: Israel Built and Defended a Secret Base in Iraq for Iran Warhttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5271504-report-israel-built-and-defended-secret-base-iraq-iran-war
A F-35 fighter jet flies during a graduation ceremony for Israeli Air Force pilots at Hatzerim Airbase, in southern Israel, June 29, 2023. (Reuters)
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Report: Israel Built and Defended a Secret Base in Iraq for Iran War
A F-35 fighter jet flies during a graduation ceremony for Israeli Air Force pilots at Hatzerim Airbase, in southern Israel, June 29, 2023. (Reuters)
Israel set up a clandestine military outpost in the Iraqi desert to support its air campaign against Iran and launched airstrikes against Iraqi troops who nearly discovered it, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing people familiar with the matter including US officials.
Israel built the installation, which housed special forces and served as a logistical hub for the Israeli air force, with the knowledge of the US just before the start of the US-Israeli war against Iran, the newspaper said.
It also included search-and-rescue teams positioned to assist any downed Israeli pilots, the Journal said.
Reuters could not independently verify the report. There was no immediate response from the Israeli prime minister's office to a Reuters request for comment.
The base was almost discovered in early March after Iraqi state media said a local shepherd reported unusual military activity, including helicopter movements in the area.
Iraqi troops were dispatched to investigate, but Israeli forces used airstrikes to keep them at a distance and prevent the site from being discovered, the paper said, citing one of the sources.
The Journal cited a complaint filed with the United Nations later in March in which Iraq said the attack involved foreign forces and airstrikes and attributed it to the US. The WSJ cited a person familiar with the matter as saying the United States was not involved in the attack.
Israel Has Deported Two Gaza Flotilla Activistshttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5271476-israel-has-deported-two-gaza-flotilla-activists
This combination of file pictures created on May 9, 2026 shows Spanish activist Saif Abu Keshek (L) and Brazil's activist Thiago Avila arriving in court, in the Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon on May 5, 2026. (Photo by ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP)
This combination of file pictures created on May 9, 2026 shows Spanish activist Saif Abu Keshek (L) and Brazil's activist Thiago Avila arriving in court, in the Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon on May 5, 2026. (Photo by ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP)
Israel has deported two foreign activists taken off a Gaza-bound flotilla, the foreign ministry said on Sunday.
Saif Abu Keshek, a Spanish national of Palestinian origin, and Brazilian Thiago Avila were among dozens of activists aboard a flotilla intercepted by the Israeli navy in international waters off the coast of Greece on April 30.
The pair were seized by Israeli forces and brought to Israel for questioning, while the others were taken to the Greek island of Crete and released.
"Saif Abu Keshek and Thiago Avila, from the provocation flotilla, were deported today from Israel," following an investigation the Israeli foreign ministry posted on X on Sunday.
Israel would "not allow any breach" of the blockade on Gaza, it added.
Spain, Brazil and the United Nations had all called for the men's swift release.
On Wednesday an Israeli court rejected an appeal contesting the pair's detention, with the rights group representing them calling the ruling as "unlawful."
The flotilla had set sail from France, Spain and Italy with the aim of breaking Israel's blockade of Gaza and delivering humanitarian aid to the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.
The Global Sumud Flotilla's first voyage last year was also intercepted by Israeli forces off the coasts of Egypt and Gaza.
Israel controls all entry points into Gaza, which has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007.
Throughout the Gaza war that started in October 2023, there have been shortages of critical supplies in the territory, with Israel at times cutting off aid entirely.
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