Assad reveals concession plan to head off Martyrs' Day turmoil

Facing a massive protest movement demanding reform, Syria's president set up committees yesterday to look into the deaths of civilians during nearly two weeks of unrest and replacing decades-old emergency laws.

The moves appear to be calculated move by president Bashar al-Assad to head off massive protests planned for today while showing he will not be pressured to implement reform - rather, he will make changes at his own pace.

On Wednesday, he frustrated expectations that he would announce sweeping changes by blaming two weeks of popular upheaval on a foreign conspiracy during his first public comments on the unrest.

It was not immediately clear whether yesterday's overtures would succeed in pacifying a growing protest movement in one of Middle East's most authoritarian regimes.

Activists have called for demonstrations across Syrian provinces today, dubbing it "Martyrs' Day," in what could prove to be a turning point in the country's future.

Syrian state television said the ruling Baath Party's regional command formed a committee made up of legal experts to study legislation that would "guarantee the country's security and dignity of Syrians and combat terrorism".

"This would pave the way for lifting the state of emergency laws," it said. The widely despised, decades-old emergency laws give the regime a free hand to arrest people without charge.

The news agency said the committee would complete its study by 25 April. It also said Mr Assad has set up a judicial committee to urgently investigate the circumstances that led to the death of Syrian civilians and security forces in the southern city of Daraa and the Mediterranean city of Latakia.

The president also set up a panel to study granting Syrian citizenship to some 250,000 Kurds. It is expected to complete its work before 15 April - a step that would fulfil a longstanding Kurdish demand.

Kurds, the largest ethnic minority in Syria, have long complained of persecution by Syrian authorities.

In 2004, clashes that began in the north-eastern city of Qamishli between Syrian Kurds and security forces left at least 25 people dead and some 100 injured.

Kurds had so far stayed out of the current protests, but yesterday's decision reflects concern they might intervene.

Mr Assad fired his 32-member cabinet on Tuesday in a move designed to mollify the anti-government protesters, but the overture was largely symbolic. Mr Assad wields most of the power in what is effectively an autocracy.

The protests were touched off by the arrest of several teenagers who scrawled anti-government slogans on walls in the southern city of Daraa.The protests spread to other parts of the country last week, and human rights groups say more than 60 people have been killed since 18 March as security forces cracked down on the demonstrations.

An anti-government protester in Daraa said yesterday that security forces arrested up to 17 people in the city overnight. He said a sit-in by a few hundred protesters near al-Omari mosque, the epicentre of protests, ended yesterday.

But he said protesters were regrouping for more demonstrations in Daraa and nearby areas today, the Muslim day of prayer.