In this Friday February 8, 2013 photo, a Free Syrian Army fighter sits behind his antiaircraft machine gun in Aleppo, Syria. Syrian rebels brought their fight within a mile of the heart of Damascus on Friday, seizing army checkpoints and cutting a key highway with a row of burning tires as they pressed their campaign for the heavily guarded capital, considered the likely endgame in the nearly 2-year-old civil war. (AP Photo/Abdullah al-Yassin)
February 09, 2013 - 1:07 AM
DAMASCUS, Syria - Syria's state media is reporting that President Bashar Assad has reshuffled his Cabinet, appointing new ministers to handle an economy ravaged by two years of uprising and civil war.
State TV said the ministries that were changed are those of oil, finance, social affairs, labour and agriculture. Key security ministries such as defence and interior remained unchanged.
Saturday's announcement comes amid major shortages of fuel, electricity and bread.
The U.S. dollar today exchanges for around 95 Syrian pounds at the black market, about half its value of 47 pounds to the dollar when the crisis began in March 2011.
News from © The Associated Press, 2013