BICOM

Syrian state television announced yesterday that President Bashar Assad had accepted the resignation of the government following two weeks of antigovernment protests, which have left more than 60 people dead. Reuters reports that Assad is expected today to deliver his first public speech since the protests started, and there is speculation that he may announce the lifting of Syria’s emergency laws which have been in place since 1963. In addition, Assad yesterday mobilised tens of thousands of his supporters to hold counter-protests to the antigovernment protesters.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday condemned the Syrian government for its violent response to antigovernment protests. “I expressed our strong condemnation of the Syrian government’s brutal repression of demonstrators, in particular the violence and killing of civilians in the hands of security forces,” Clinton said. The US State Department also released a statement calling on Syria to make progress on reforms and said that Assad must meet the aspirations of the citizens.

President Assad has ruled Syria for eleven years and took over power following the death of his father Hafez in 2000. The resignation of the government may not be enough to halt the protests as the concentration of power in Syria is held among Assad, his family and security forces and less with government institutions.