World Bulletin / News Desk

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has been fighting rebels for the last three years and been isolated by much of the world, issued a decree to form a new government on Wednesday, keeping most key ministers in place.

Assad confirmed the 34-minister strong cabinet, in which Prime Minister Wael Nader al-Halqi, Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, Defense Minister Fahd Jassem al-Freij, Interior Minister Mohammad al-Shaar, Presidential Affairs Minister Mansour Fadlallah Azzam and Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi kept their places.

In the elections Assad received some 88 percent of votes, giving him a third term in office.

Syria's civil war has resulted in the deaths of more than 191,369 people since it began more than three years ago.

Critics consider the cabinet, made up of Baathist loyalists, to be largely symbolic as power in Syria lies in the hands of Assad and his inner circle of family and elite members of the security forces.