Syrian leader says emergency law will be lifted this week
President Bashar Assad's move is not expected to mollify protesters and may be nullified by planned new counter-terrorism laws.
By Borzou Daragahi, Los Angeles Times
April 17, 2011
Reporting from Beirut—
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Syrian President Bashar Assad said Saturday that the nation's decades-old emergency law will be lifted this week, but the move came even as he planned to implement a series of counter-terrorism laws expected to give his security forces free rein.
Assad told his new Cabinet to remove the law within a week. Afterward, "there will be no pretext to organize protests in Syria," he said in comments broadcast on state television. "The competent agencies, especially the Interior Ministry, are required to enforce the laws with complete decisiveness and there will be no leniency toward any act of sabotage."
Inspired by revolutions and uprisings across the Arab world, Syrians have been demanding change in a series of increasingly large rallies only to be confronted by bullets, batons and tear gas. At least 200 Syrians have been killed, mostly at the hands of the security forces, human rights groups allege.
Syrian authorities describe the monthlong protests against corruption, economic stagnation and the country's authoritarian system as part of an international conspiracy because of Damascus' foreign policy.
Assad's tone was much less confrontational than in a haughty March 30 speech that appeared to further anger the protest movement. He acknowledged that "a gap has started to surface between the government institutions and the citizens." He vowed to fight corruption, improve the economy and confer with trade unions.
Many observers doubt that the lifting of the law or other reform gestures will either mollify protesters or prevent the country's powerful and overlapping security apparatuses from encroaching on Syrians' rights. A commission will release details of the new counter-terrorism proposals this month, state news agencies reported.
The speech to his handpicked Cabinet was probably an attempt to divide an opposition movement increasingly uniting against his regime despite class, regional, sectarian and ethnic differences.
As Assad prepared to speak, there were signs that the antigovernment uprising was picking up steam and becoming more radical in its demands. As many as 10,000 people attended a politically charged funeral for a slain activist in the northern city of Baniyas, the Associated Press cited witnesses as saying.
Protests continued Saturday in the southern city of Dara, Reuters news agency reported, though city elders said the government was acceding to demands that security officials be punished for killing dozens of people and that checkpoints be removed.
Activists have called for nationwide strikes at universities starting Tuesday to protest arrests of campus activists in Damascus and Aleppo.
Syria's uprising is fueled by increasing rural poverty and widening disparities between the poor and a newly emerging class of wealthy and well-connected merchants, many of them among Assad's family and entourage.
Revolutions that toppled long-standing leaders in Tunisia and Egypt have also inspired demands for accountable government and greater civil liberties.
Syria, which has some of the trappings of a democracy, such as a parliament and regular elections, has in effect been ruled for 48 years by Assad, his father, Hafez, or their fellow Baath Party loyalists, who have crushed any opposition and even intimidated dissidents abroad.
"The final piece of advice I give to every official I meet and to every government is humility," Assad told his Cabinet. "There is no need for arrogance, because arrogance is the beginning of decline, failure and fall of any person, state and people."
daragahi@latimes.com, A special correspondent in Damascus contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2011, Los Angeles Times
======================================================
President Bashar Assad's move is not expected to mollify protesters and may be nullified by planned new counter-terrorism laws.
By Borzou Daragahi, Los Angeles Times
April 17, 2011
Reporting from Beirut—
================================================
Syrian President Bashar Assad said Saturday that the nation's decades-old emergency law will be lifted this week, but the move came even as he planned to implement a series of counter-terrorism laws expected to give his security forces free rein.
Assad told his new Cabinet to remove the law within a week. Afterward, "there will be no pretext to organize protests in Syria," he said in comments broadcast on state television. "The competent agencies, especially the Interior Ministry, are required to enforce the laws with complete decisiveness and there will be no leniency toward any act of sabotage."
Inspired by revolutions and uprisings across the Arab world, Syrians have been demanding change in a series of increasingly large rallies only to be confronted by bullets, batons and tear gas. At least 200 Syrians have been killed, mostly at the hands of the security forces, human rights groups allege.
Syrian authorities describe the monthlong protests against corruption, economic stagnation and the country's authoritarian system as part of an international conspiracy because of Damascus' foreign policy.
Assad's tone was much less confrontational than in a haughty March 30 speech that appeared to further anger the protest movement. He acknowledged that "a gap has started to surface between the government institutions and the citizens." He vowed to fight corruption, improve the economy and confer with trade unions.
Many observers doubt that the lifting of the law or other reform gestures will either mollify protesters or prevent the country's powerful and overlapping security apparatuses from encroaching on Syrians' rights. A commission will release details of the new counter-terrorism proposals this month, state news agencies reported.
The speech to his handpicked Cabinet was probably an attempt to divide an opposition movement increasingly uniting against his regime despite class, regional, sectarian and ethnic differences.
As Assad prepared to speak, there were signs that the antigovernment uprising was picking up steam and becoming more radical in its demands. As many as 10,000 people attended a politically charged funeral for a slain activist in the northern city of Baniyas, the Associated Press cited witnesses as saying.
Protests continued Saturday in the southern city of Dara, Reuters news agency reported, though city elders said the government was acceding to demands that security officials be punished for killing dozens of people and that checkpoints be removed.
Activists have called for nationwide strikes at universities starting Tuesday to protest arrests of campus activists in Damascus and Aleppo.
Syria's uprising is fueled by increasing rural poverty and widening disparities between the poor and a newly emerging class of wealthy and well-connected merchants, many of them among Assad's family and entourage.
Revolutions that toppled long-standing leaders in Tunisia and Egypt have also inspired demands for accountable government and greater civil liberties.
Syria, which has some of the trappings of a democracy, such as a parliament and regular elections, has in effect been ruled for 48 years by Assad, his father, Hafez, or their fellow Baath Party loyalists, who have crushed any opposition and even intimidated dissidents abroad.
"The final piece of advice I give to every official I meet and to every government is humility," Assad told his Cabinet. "There is no need for arrogance, because arrogance is the beginning of decline, failure and fall of any person, state and people."
daragahi@latimes.com, A special correspondent in Damascus contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2011, Los Angeles Times
======================================================
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