A new Syrian cabinet was sworn in yesterday in the presence of President Bashar al-Assad after it was formed last week.

The new ministers as well as those who were reappointed for a new term met Assad after the oath. Assad urged them to be transparent in their dealings with the citizens.

"The success of the government is based on the citizen's trust through transparency. We have to be transparent with them. When there is a problem that we can't resolve, we should tell them that. We should be honest. We should not say something that we are not sure of it or we can not do. We should not give promises that are bigger than our capabilities and we have to keep our promises match our capabilities," Assad told the cabinet.

The Syrian government said on Monday that the country would cooperate in any international effort to fight Islamic State militants, after Washington signaled it was considering extending the battle against the group into Syrian territory.

The government has mostly focused its military efforts on beating back insurgents in a strategic corridor of territory stretching north from Damascus - areas far from the group's strongholds where it has less of a presence.

The pattern of conflict has changed in recent weeks, with hundreds of government loyalist fighters killed in engagements with the IS militants as they seek to expand further in Syria, strengthened by weaponry brought in from Iraq.