25.03.2011                      19.Adar ll, 5771

Syrien:

Assad pledges new rights as 20,000 march for 37 dead

Syrian leader may lift state of emergency as US ramps up criticism; president didn’t order his forces to open fire, adviser claims.

Syrian President Bashar Assad issued an unprecedented pledge of greater freedom and more prosperity to his people on Thursday as anger mounted following a crackdown on protesters that left at least 37 dead.
As an aide to Assad in Damascus read out a list of decrees, which included a possible end to 48 years of emergency rule, a human rights group said a leading pro-democracy activist, Mazen Darwish, had been arrested….