Syria lifts state of emergency

DAMASCUS, Syria, April 19 (UPI) -- Syrian officials passed a bill Tuesday that lifts a decades-old state of emergency and regulates the right to peaceful protest, the official news agency said.

Syrian President Bashar Assad in a national speech last weekend promised to lift a state of emergency imposed when his Baath Party took power 48 years ago.

Ending the law has been a key demand of the thousands of protesters who have turned out every Friday for the past month. Assad made the announcement as he swore in a new Cabinet.

"The Cabinet passes bills on legislative decrees to end the state of emergency in Syria, abolish Higher State Security Court, bill regulating right to peaceful protest," read a report from the official Syrian Arab News Agency.

Assad, in a speech in early April said he was eager to reform the government.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem met in Damascus with foreign dignitaries to discuss proposed reforms.

"We believe that those who want reform express their opinion peacefully from the basis that this reform is a national necessity," he said. "Those who want reform do not use violence and weapons and do not resort to vandalism, burning state establishments and blocking roads."

Accounts of the demonstrations in Syria vary. SANA blames thugs and foreign elements for the unrest, though foreign media reports blame Syrian security forces for firing on unarmed protesters.