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BBC MUNDO RADIO
Syria has responded to weeks of unrest that have killed more than 200 people by scrapping emergency laws in place since 1963.
At the same time, the regime of President Bashir al-Assad vowed to show no weakness in its resolve to stay in power, threatening a hard line against demonstrators and killing at least three in breaking up a sit-in in the northern city of Homs.
Security forces moved in before dawn on Tuesday after funerals for protesters killed in demonstrations on Sunday turned into an overnight rally, with protesters pledging to stay until President Assad stood down.
The attack on the demonstration, which was reported to be peaceful, came amid conflicting signals from the authorities.
On Monday night, the authorities issued a hardline statement condemning opposition to the regime as an “armed mutiny” by Salafists - adherents of strict, Saudi-style Sunni Islam - who had killed policemen, soldiers and civilians.
They said they would “pursue the terrorists wherever they are in order to bring them to justice”.
An official interior ministry statement yesterday afternoon suggested that demonstrations, which had been allowed following the start of protests last month as long as they were peaceful, were now being banned outright.
“The laws in force in Syria will be applied in the interest of the safety of the people and the stability of the country,” the statement said, urging citizens “to refrain from any mass rallies or demonstrations or sit-ins under any title”.
Another report by the state news agency said an army brigadier-general, Khodir Al-Tellawi, had been killed and mutilated on Sunday by “armed criminal gangs” along with two other officers and his nephew and two young sons.
But that was followed shortly after by an announcement that the council of ministers had approved a draft legislative decree to end the state of emergency imposed by President Assad’s father, Hafez al-Assad, in 1963 and to cancel the Supreme State Security Court.
Lifting of the state of emergency, which now just requires President Assad’s signature, had been his main promise to win back support for his rule.
The announcement also referred to a new law regulating peaceful demonstrations, without giving details.
In the attack on the protest in Al-Saa Square in Homs yesterday, witnesses said security forces used tear gas and live ammunition.
“My father is a doctor - everyone he speaks to knows someone who was killed,” one activist told The Daily Telegraph from the city. “That number of martyrs is a low estimate.” Unverified footage posted on YouTube claimed to show protesters ducking for cover as gunfire rang around the city. Funerals were taking place yesterday afternoon(tues).
“It is extremely tense now, but what is clear in the feeling of the people is that there is no fear anymore,” said another witness. “The protesters have no fear, and seem to be willing to die for the cause.”
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