Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has formed a new government under recently-appointed Prime Minister Adel Safar.

The president appointed Safar prime minister when the previous government of Naji al-Otari resigned on March 29 after protests in a number of cities.

About 200 people have died in protests, which broke out in mid-March against President Assad's rule. The unrest is seen as the biggest challenge to Assad, who inherited power from his father in 2000. Human rights campaigners say hundreds of people across Syria have been arrested, including opposition figures, bloggers and activists, BBC reported.

Safar was agriculture minister under former Prime Minister Otari.

Intelligence official Ibrahim al-Shaar was named interior minister and Mohammad al-Jililati, head of the Damascus Stock Exchange, was appointed finance minister, Reuters news agency said, quoting the official government list.