Syria's state news agency says President Bashar Assad has formed a new government headed by a loyalist member of his Baath Party.

Assad had promised after the May 7 parliamentary elections to make the government more inclusive to politicians from other parties. But the appointment as prime minister of Baathist Riad Farid Hijab, a former agriculture minister, raised questions about his commitment to that pledge.

There was no change in the key posts at the foreign, defense and interior ministries, the Associated Press reported.