Assad forms new Syrian government

Adel Safar confirmed as new prime minister, while deal allows Syrian army to enter restive coastal city of Baniyas.

Bashar al-Assad, Syria's president, has formed a new cabinet two weeks after sacking the country's government amid unprecendented protests against his rule. Al-assad has also issued a decree to release all prisoners except those with crime related records. Adel Safar, a former agriculture minister, will lead the new government while veteran diplomat Walid al-Moualem remains as foreign minister, Syria's state news agency reported. The announcement follows a deal allowing Syria's army to enter the restive coastal city of Baniyas and claims by human rights groups that several people detained by security forces had been tortured. "There was a deal on Wednesday between Syrian officials and city residents for the army to enter Baniyas imminently to restore order," Rami Abdel Rahman, president of Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), told AFP by telephone. "Security agents will refrain from patrolling neighborhoods to make arrests, and the hundreds of people arrested in Banyias will be released," he added. "Elements of armed gangs," some of whom he said were close to security and intelligence services and "have caused unrest in order to create dissension, will be prosecuted", he said. Celebratory scenes Al Jazeera's Rula Amin spoke to an eyewitness where he described a celebratory scene as the Syrian army entered Baniyas. "People were chanting the people and the army are one, they were throwing rice at them, they were welcoming and celebrating their arrival. The scene there is of a calming tension not escalation, "she said. She also added that "The residence of the town have been fearing these gunmen, four residence have been killed, one soldier killed today and another one injured. "According to the government two days ago nine soldiers were gunned down. So it is a highly volatile situation that the government is trying to contain and it seems like the Baniyas people are cooperating and engaging the governments efforts." Security forces had encircled Baniyas, 280 kms northwest of Damascus, since deadly clashes there on Sunday. Government forces killed at least four people and wounded 17 when they strafed a residential area of the town with gunfire for hours, witnesses said. Nine soldiers were  killed when their patrol was ambushed outside the town, the official SANA news agency said. Scores of people were also wounded in the unrest and hundreds reportedly arrested in Baniyas and the nearby village of Baida. Assad on Thursday appealed for calm in a meeting with a delegation from the city of Daraa, which has been a focal point for anti-government protests. Our correspondent said: "We spoke to members of the delegation that met with the Syrian president, and they said that the meeting went well. But they won't elaborate on whether a deal has been reached. It seems like there are some fine details that need to be worked out." Protests demands Amin said the protesters had told the president to give them a deadline when their demands will be met. "Some of their demands are specific to Daraa and others are to do with the rest of Syria [such as] more political freedom, the right to have peaceful protests and the release of all the prisoners that have been detained in the past three months. "What the government wants is an end to the protests, and even if it acknowledges their right to protest it should be done peacefully. The government want to put a stop to vandalism and attacks to public property. "It seems from the people in Daraa that the government is seriously trying to contain [the situation in] Daraa because that is where it all started. If they mange to calm the situation in Daraa, the government believes it will be able to contain the situation throughout Syria."

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies