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Syria Appoints Veteran Diplomat Faisal Mekdad as Foreign Minister

Reuters

   AMMAN - Syria named veteran diplomat Faisal Mekdad as foreign minister
   on Sunday to replace Walid Moalem, who died last week, state media
   reported.

   Mekdad, 66, had been deputy foreign minister since 2006. He has also
   held a string of diplomatic posts, including envoy to the United
   Nations.

   Syrian President Bashar al-Assad also appointed Bashar al-Jaafari,
   currently ambassador to the United Nations, as deputy foreign minister.

   Moalem was a staunch defender of Assad's bloody crackdown on peaceful
   protesters in 2011, which sparked a conflict that has now lasted almost
   a decade.

   Moalem died last Monday at the age of 79, after suffering years of
   heart problems.

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