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Syria's Assad: Emergency Law to End Soon

   Announcement made Sunday during broadcast speech his Cabinet

   VOA News  April 17, 2011
   A Syrian pro-government protester shouts slogans during a protest
   following Friday prayers outside the Omayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria,
   April 15, 2011

Photo: AP

   A Syrian pro-government protester shouts slogans during a protest
   following Friday prayers outside the Omayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria,
   April 15, 2011

   Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says the country's decades-old state
   of emergency laws will be lifted within a week.
   He made the announcement Saturday during a Cabinet speech broadcast
   nationwide. Anti-government protesters have been demanding the lifting
   of emergency laws, which give security forces sweeping powers to carry
   out arrests and detentions.
   Mr. Assad said Syria's stability is a priority issue, and that security
   forces need additional training on how to deal with protests.
   The president said unemployment - particularly joblessness among youth
   - remains Syria's biggest problem. Young people unable to find jobs
   become frustrated, Mr. Assad said, and "turn away from the aspirations
   of the state." He urged the country's new Cabinet to consider a number
   of measures that could create more jobs.
   Earlier Saturday, thousands of mourners turned out for the funeral of a
   man who protesters say was shot by pro-government forces during a
   demonstration last Sunday. Some people attending the service in the
   coastal city of Banias chanted slogans calling for freedom.

   Separately, Syria's state-run news agency said Saturday that a
   policeman was beaten to death by protesters in the central city of
   Homs. SANA reported the police officer was hit with sticks and stones
   during a pro-democracy demonstration on Friday that turned violent.
   On Thursday, Mr. Assad unveiled a new 30-member Cabinet and ordered the
   release of activists detained during recent anti-government protests.
   Both measures were seen as a bid to ease opposition unrest, which has
   been on the increase for the past month.
   Demonstrations have turned violent at times as protesters have clashed
   with security forces. Human rights groups say more than 200 people have
   been killed during the government's crackdown on protests.
   Syria has been ruled continuously by the Assad family since 1970, when
   the current president's father, Hafez al-Assad, became head of state.
   He died in 2000.
   The Emergency Law effectively limits most constitutional protections
   for individual citizens in Syria by banning demonstrations, controlling
   the media and allowing eavesdropping. It has been in effect for nearly
   50 years.

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