Syria's Health Minister Wael al-Halqi was on Thursday appointed the country's new Prime Minister.
The Baath party loyalist from Deraa replaces Riad Hijab, who on Monday announced his defection to the Opposition after fleeing with his family to neighboring Jordan.
The uprising against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad began in the southern city of Deraa in March last year.
With his defection, Hijab became the highest-ranking official to desert the Assad regime. Hijab, who was named Premier on June 23, is a Sunni Muslim from the Deir al-Zour area of eastern Syria, which has been a major center of the anti-Assad uprising.
Meanwhile, reports quoting Syrian rebel commanders said on Thursday that government forces regained control of the strategic Salah al-Din district in the northern city of Aleppo after bombarding the city.
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