Orient TV reported press sources citing diplomats close to the Syrian regime saying Walid Muallem, Assad’s foreign minister, has asked for permission to resign from political work due to his dire physical conditions. He had undergone surgery last month in Beirut due to his heart illness.
Muallem’s deputy Feisal al-Meqdad and Bashar al-Najafi, the regime’s envoy in the UN, are the most probable replacements.