Syria’s al-Assad names new defense minister
DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – The Syrian president Bashar al-Assad issued on Thursday a decree appointing Ali Mahmoud Abbas as the new defense minister.
Abbas is replacing General Ali Abdullah Ayoub, a former army chief of staff who was appointed by al-Assad in 2018.
The official Syrian news agency SANA publicized the presidential decree about naming the new minister of defense in the country.
In March 2020, the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Department of Finance had listed the former Defense Minister Ali Abdullah Ayoub on the sanctions list.
Since the eruption of the Syrian war in 2011, Abbas has been the fourth minister of defense in Syria and the seventh since al-Assad came to power.