New government expected in Syria

The London-based al-Sharq al-Awsat daily said on Saturday that it has become evident that a new Syrian government is to be formed under the leadership of Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa.

The paper quoted well-informed sources as saying that the success of the first round of peace talks between Syria and Israel in Washington and the agreement made to resume them intensively next month presume, in protocols, that these negotiations are to be carried out on one level between the two sides' delegations, which means between the two prime ministers.

The sources expected that announcement of the new government will be made before resuming negotiations in a way that will allow al-Sharaa to return to these negotiations as prime minister and with wider authority.