New Government, Same Violence in Syria - East Idaho News
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New Government, Same Violence in Syria

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123906093?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1340614261903JOSEPH EID/AFP/Getty Images(DAMASCUS, Syria) — A new government in Syria doesn’t neccesarily mean much has changed there.

Violence still rages throughout the country as an activist group with ties to the opposition reported more than 130 deaths on Saturday alone, mostly from uninterrupted shelling of cities by the Syrian military.

The latest news of violence comes as President Bashar al-Assad announced a new government several weeks after parliamentary elections that his opponents alleged were rigged.

Former Minister of Agriculture Riad Hijab was named Syria’s new prime minister, a position that doesn’t carry much power.

The real authority figures, outside of al-Assad, are Defense Minister Dawood Rajiha and Interior Minister Mohammad Ibrahim al-Shaar, who are keeping their jobs, which involve overseeing the crackdown on government opponents.

Since March 2011, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claims that more than 15,000 people have died, although it is impossible to verify actual casualty figures because of the news blackout imposed by Damascus.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

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