New Syrian General Command Appoints New Foreign Minister
The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) announced on Saturday that Asaad Al-Shebani has been
appointed as the new Foreign Minister. According to the agency, “The General Command
announces the assignment of Asaad Hassan Al-Shebani to the portfolio of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs in the new Syrian government.”
Asaad Al-Shebani
Hails from an Arab family in Al-Hasakah Province and was born in 1987. He
lived in Damascus and graduated from its university in 2009 with a degree in English Language
and Literature from the Faculty of Arts and Humanities.
Al-Shebani joined the Syrian revolution since its onset in 2011 and has witnessed all its stages,
contributing to the establishment of the Syrian Salvation Government in 2017. He also founded
the political affairs department within what is now known as the “Salvation Government”, which
has been administering parts of Syria. He has led this administration from its inception to the
present.
Al-Shebani earned a Master’s degree in Political Science and International Relations from Sabanci
University in Turkey in 2022, followed by a Ph.D. in the same field in 2024. He is currently
pursuing the final stage of an MBA.
According to “Syria TV”, during his leadership of the political affairs department in Idlib, Al-
Shebani met with officials from UN agencies and major international organizations operating in
Idlib, along with various political and diplomatic representatives.
The appointment of Al-Shebani comes at a time when Western and Arab countries are sending
delegations to discuss enhancing cooperation with the new Syrian authorities, aiming to
stimulate economic and reconstruction efforts after more than five decades of Assad family rule,
which was characterized by authoritarian control.
The Assad regime was overthrown on December 8th after opposition forces took control of most
major cities in Syria, including Aleppo, Hama, Homs, Daraa, As-Suwayda, and the capital,
Damascus.
