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BEIRUT – Syria's president formally ratified an end to the 50-year-old state of emergency Thursday as the regime tried to dampen enthusiasm for the country's monthlong uprising on the eve of massive rallies planned for Friday.
President Bashar Assad is trying to calm angry protests against his authoritarian rule by issuing a series of concessions, including an end to the emergency law that gave authorities almost boundless powers of surveillance and arrest.
But many protesters said Assad did not deserve credit for lifting the law.
"The state of emergency was brought down, not lifted. It is a victory as a result of demonstrations, protests and the blood of martyrs who called for Syria's freedom," prominent Syrian activist Suhair Atassi, who was arrested several times in the past, wrote on her Twitter page.
New protests were expected after Muslim prayers on Friday, which has become the main day of the week for protests across the Arab world. The movement has crossed a significant threshold in recent days, with increasing numbers now seeking nothing less than the downfall of the regime.
The monthlong uprising in Syria has posed the biggest challenge to the 40-year ruling dynasty of Assad and his father before him. So far, Assad's strategy has been to couple dry promises of reform with a relentless crackdown.
In addition ending the state of emergency, he fulfilled a decades-old demand by granting citizenship to thousands among Syria's long-ostracized Kurdish minority, fired local officials, released detainees and formed a new government.
But the crackdown has only fueled the protests. Activists say Assad has unleashed his security forces along with shadowy, pro-government thugs known as "shabiha" to brutalize and intimidate them. At least 200 people have been killed in the government crackdown since the protests erupted, human rights groups say.
President Bashar Assad is trying to calm angry protests against his authoritarian rule by issuing a series of concessions, including an end to the emergency law that gave authorities almost boundless powers of surveillance and arrest.
But many protesters said Assad did not deserve credit for lifting the law.
"The state of emergency was brought down, not lifted. It is a victory as a result of demonstrations, protests and the blood of martyrs who called for Syria's freedom," prominent Syrian activist Suhair Atassi, who was arrested several times in the past, wrote on her Twitter page.
New protests were expected after Muslim prayers on Friday, which has become the main day of the week for protests across the Arab world. The movement has crossed a significant threshold in recent days, with increasing numbers now seeking nothing less than the downfall of the regime.
The monthlong uprising in Syria has posed the biggest challenge to the 40-year ruling dynasty of Assad and his father before him. So far, Assad's strategy has been to couple dry promises of reform with a relentless crackdown.
In addition ending the state of emergency, he fulfilled a decades-old demand by granting citizenship to thousands among Syria's long-ostracized Kurdish minority, fired local officials, released detainees and formed a new government.
But the crackdown has only fueled the protests. Activists say Assad has unleashed his security forces along with shadowy, pro-government thugs known as "shabiha" to brutalize and intimidate them. At least 200 people have been killed in the government crackdown since the protests erupted, human rights groups say.