Syrias Assad under pressure as new protests called

DAMASCUS: The protesters have called for rallies across Syria, after Muslim weekly prayers on Friday, increasing pressure on President Bashar al-Assad, after destroying the hopes of an end to decades of state emergency.
"Our date is Friday, all the houses, all places of worship, every citizen and every free man, all the squares for a free Syria," he said in a statement published Thursday on the Facebook group The Revolution Syria in 2011.
The group, which remains anonymous, was a driving force behind the protests that erupted on March 15, concentrated mainly in Daraa, south of the capital, and in the religiously divided city coastal Lattakia.
Assad is facing an unprecedented internal pressure in his 11 year reign as protests demanding greater freedom in the country, which has been in a state of emergency for almost 50 years, into a third week.
Although Assad did not announce the end of emergency rule in his speech on Wednesday - his first appearance since the division broke out - state-run SANA news agency a "study" was underway to replace the emergency law with new legislation on national security and the fight against terrorism.
"Under a directive by President Bashar al-Assad, a committee of legal experts was formed to study new laws on national security and the fight against terrorism, to pave the way to end state of emergency, "SANA said.
"The committee should complete its work before April 25," he added.