Syria's Cabinet steps down as crowds show support for Assad
Source: Agencies |
March 30, 2011, Wednesday
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SYRIA'S Cabinet resigned yesterday to help quell a wave of popular fury that erupted more than a week ago, threatening President Bashar Assad's 11-year rule.
Assad, whose family has controlled Syria for four decades, is trying to calm growing dissent with a string of overtures. He was expected to address the nation within next 24 hours to lift emergency laws in place since 1963 and moving to annul other harsh restrictions on civil liberties and political freedoms.
Mass protests exploded nationwide last Friday, touched off by the arrest of several teenagers who scrawled anti-government graffiti on a wall in the southern city of Daraa. Security forces launched a swift crackdown, opening fire in at least six locations around the country - including the capital, Damascus, and the country's main port of Latakia.
More than 60 people have died since March 18 as security forces cracked down on protesters, Human Rights Watch said.
State TV said yesterday that Assad accepted the resignation of the 32-member Cabinet headed by Naji al-Otari, who has been in place since September 2003. The Cabinet will continue running the country's affairs until the formation of a new government. The resignations will not affect Assad, who holds the lion's share of power in the government.
The announcement came hours after hundreds of thousands of supporters of Assad poured into the streets as the government tried to show it has mass support. "The people want Bashar Assad!" chanted protesters in a Damascus square. Men, women and children gathered in front of a huge picture of Assad freshly put up on the Central Bank building.
Many of the pro-government demonstrators emphasized national unity.
"Sectarianism was never an issue before, this is a conspiracy targeting Syria," said Jinane Adra, a 36-year-old Syrian who came from Saudi Arabia to express support for Assad.
"The Syrian people are one, there is no place for religious divisions between us," she said, flanked by her children, aged 3 and 5, carrying red roses and pictures of the president.
Mohammed Ali, 40, said Assad was in touch with the Syrian people and aware of their need for reform.
"This dirty conspiracy will be short-lived, we are all behind him," he said, cradling an Assad poster on his chest.
Yesterday's rallies, dubbed "loyalty to the nation march," brought hundreds of thousands into the streets in the Syrian provinces of Aleppo and Hasakeh in the north and the central cities of Hama and Homs. Children were given the day off school and bank employees and other workers were given two hours off to attend the demonstrations.
Assad, a British-trained eye doctor, inherited power from his father in 2000. He has said Syria was immune to unrest because he was in tune with his people's needs.
Assad, whose family has controlled Syria for four decades, is trying to calm growing dissent with a string of overtures. He was expected to address the nation within next 24 hours to lift emergency laws in place since 1963 and moving to annul other harsh restrictions on civil liberties and political freedoms.
Mass protests exploded nationwide last Friday, touched off by the arrest of several teenagers who scrawled anti-government graffiti on a wall in the southern city of Daraa. Security forces launched a swift crackdown, opening fire in at least six locations around the country - including the capital, Damascus, and the country's main port of Latakia.
More than 60 people have died since March 18 as security forces cracked down on protesters, Human Rights Watch said.
State TV said yesterday that Assad accepted the resignation of the 32-member Cabinet headed by Naji al-Otari, who has been in place since September 2003. The Cabinet will continue running the country's affairs until the formation of a new government. The resignations will not affect Assad, who holds the lion's share of power in the government.
The announcement came hours after hundreds of thousands of supporters of Assad poured into the streets as the government tried to show it has mass support. "The people want Bashar Assad!" chanted protesters in a Damascus square. Men, women and children gathered in front of a huge picture of Assad freshly put up on the Central Bank building.
Many of the pro-government demonstrators emphasized national unity.
"Sectarianism was never an issue before, this is a conspiracy targeting Syria," said Jinane Adra, a 36-year-old Syrian who came from Saudi Arabia to express support for Assad.
"The Syrian people are one, there is no place for religious divisions between us," she said, flanked by her children, aged 3 and 5, carrying red roses and pictures of the president.
Mohammed Ali, 40, said Assad was in touch with the Syrian people and aware of their need for reform.
"This dirty conspiracy will be short-lived, we are all behind him," he said, cradling an Assad poster on his chest.
Yesterday's rallies, dubbed "loyalty to the nation march," brought hundreds of thousands into the streets in the Syrian provinces of Aleppo and Hasakeh in the north and the central cities of Hama and Homs. Children were given the day off school and bank employees and other workers were given two hours off to attend the demonstrations.
Assad, a British-trained eye doctor, inherited power from his father in 2000. He has said Syria was immune to unrest because he was in tune with his people's needs.
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