AMMAN (Reuters) – President Bashar al-Assad said yesterday emergency law in place for almost 50 years in Syria would be lifted by next week but ignored popular demands to curb the security apparatus and dismantle its authoritarian system.
Assad, facing unprecedented pressure for democratic reform, had earlier pledged to replace the repressive emergency law with anti-terrorism legislation, but opposition figures said this was likely to preserve tough restrictions on freedom of speech and assembly in Syria, under monolithic Baath Party rule since 1963.
“Next week is the maximum (time) limit for completion of these laws regarding the lifting of the state of emergency,” Assad said in a speech to