State of the Syria of emergency "in the end"

Bashar al-Assad said he believed that the Act would be thrown in a weekSyrian President Bashar al-Assad, that he expects a State of emergency to lift next week, after weeks of anti-Government protests.

He made the comments in a speech televised to his newly formed cabinet.

The lifting of the 48 years old emergency law has been an application key of the demonstrators.

On Friday, tens of thousands of demonstrators rallied in the capital, Damascus, in one of the biggest turnouts since the beginning of the protests.

While he reiterated his view that his country was facing a plot, Mr. Assad said that did not believe the lifting of the State of emergency would destabilize the Syria.

The Syrian leader said the cabinet a legal commission was asked to consider the lifting of the law had come to its conclusions.

"I think that the commission completed its work on Thursday, and the recommendations will be provided to the Government so that they become law immediately." "I don't know how many days it will take you and I think that the maximum deadline for the lifting of the State of emergency will be next week", he said.

The law prohibits public gatherings in addition to five persons.

Continue reading the main story  Jim Muir BBC News,.

It is a different discourse of a President Bashar al-Assad delivered before an admiring Parliament on 30 March, two weeks after the outbreak by far the most serious internal problem, his regime was faced with.

Now, giving his new Government its marching, Mr. Al-Assad orders told ministers that their mission was to provide a raft of reforms, structural changes and a new partnership with the public which would make Syria, for example for democracy in the region.

His words will be without doubt greeted with skepticism by demonstrators who have lived in the month of the violent repression and the decades of ruthless control which preceded it.

But Mr. Assad came with a tangible promise to respond to one of their most vociferous claims - the lifting of the hated emergency laws in place since 1963 and under which security agents have detained and tortured people with impunity.

New security law would be introduced instead of the emergency law, he said, adding that the new Government should also consider ideas for a multiparty system and a greater freedom of the press.

The question now is whether if the measures will be sufficient to persuade the protesters to return to their homes, said the BBC Owen Bennett Jones in the neighbouring Lebanon, or if they will encourage all just more protests in the hope of securing reforms more.

Truncheons and tear gas

Demonstrations Friday in Damascus and other cities were among the most important in a month of disorders who have seen almost 200 people were killed.

The unrest is the greatest challenge to the rule of Mr. Al-Assad, who inherited power from his father in 2000.

Security forces used tear gas and batons to disperse tens of thousands of protesters - some calling for reform, other appeal demanding the overthrow of Mr. Assad - Damascus.

Thousands of people have been demonstrated in a number of other Syrian cities - including Deraa, Latakia, Baniyas and Qamishli - where violence has been reported previously.

Mr. Al-Assad formed a new Government Thursday and pronounced an amnesty for an undetermined number of persons detained in the last month.

He has also sacked some local officials and citizenship Syrian to thousands of the Kurdish minority - meet a demand of long date.

The Organization of the United Nations and a number of Western Governments have decried use of President Assad force to try to quash the demonstrations.

Human rights activists say hundreds of people through the Syria were arrested, including activists, bloggers and personalities of the opposition.

Mr. Al-Assad accuse violence in recent weeks on not reform-seekers armed bands and has promised to put an end to more unrest.

US officials have said Iran help Syria to crack down on protests, a charge Tehran and Damascus have refused.

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