The new spokesperson of the Syrian foreign ministry

I have commented that after months of babble from the Syrian regime about reform, the only "reform" I saw was in the field of propaganda.  They appointed Jihad Maqdisi.  I commented here that he is probably the most skillful spokesperson of any Arab government.  He is most effective in his job--and the job is something I strongly disagree with and I--who am I, really--call on all those who are serving the lousy Syrian government to quit.  So I wrote on Facebook about him having watched his press conference yesterday about the interview with Bashshar Al-Asad.  I was inquiring about his academic background because it was obvious to me from his speech that was academically trained.  People (for and against the regime, as usual) jumped in and gave some information.  A few minutes later, I see that he himself jumped in and he reminded me that he has been a Facebook friend for a few years now.  So he told me that he was academically trained in France and the US.  I then asked him about the wisdom of talking to lousy Zionist reporter, Barbara Walters, and not talking to the Syrian people directly.  He answered by saying that Bashshar will indeed talk to the Syrian people at "the appropriate time" (the exchange was in Arabic).  I said that the phrase "at the appropriate time" worries me because it reminds me of the famous dictum of the Asad regime regarding "specifying the time and place of the battle with Israel"--at the appropriate time.  He said that he could not give me a scoop in this regard.