The choice of cabinet officials was seen as a litmus test for whether the rebels who ousted Bashar al-Assad would deliver on a pledge to create a government representative of all Syrians.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa announced a transitional government on Saturday, appointing 23 ministers in a broadened cabinet seen as a key milestone in the transition from decades of Assad family rule and to improving Syria's ties with the West.

Kurdish groups in Syria's north-east on Sunday criticized the newly formed transitional government, saying the line-up failed to heed the country's diversity. On Saturday, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa unveiled the new government and pledged to rebuild a "strong,