Syria's Assad addresses his cabinet

President says emergency law to be lifted "by next week" and vows to hold dialogue with trade unions.

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad has addressed his new government in a speech being aired by Syrian television after they swore the constitutional oath to him. Al-Assad chaired the first session of the new council of ministers on Saturday. In his speech, the president said "the laws to lift state of emergency will be enacted by next week". He said he realises there is a gap between citizens and the state institutions and that the government has to "keep up with the aspirations of the people". "We have to focus on the demands and the aspirations of the people or there will be a sense of anger," he said. Adel Safar, the prime minister, unveiled the new cabinet on Thursday, and it is expected to carry out broad changes, including lifting the emergency law and replacing it with new anti-terrorism legislation. But the government has little power in the one-party state dominated by Assad, his family and the security apparatus. Protests against his rule have intensified despite the use of force and mass arrests mixed with promises of reform and concessions to minority groups and conservative Muslims. Reuters reported that more than 1,000 women marched on Saturday in the coastal city of Baniyas in an all female pro-democracy protest. "Not Sunni, not Alawite. Freedom is what we all want," the women chanted, according to a rights campaigner quoted by the news agency. The city and surrounding villages have many Alawite residents, belonging to the same religious minority as President Assad. Earlier in the day, thousands of mourners in the city attended the funeral of a man who witnesses said had died from his wounds after being shot by gunmen loyal to President Assad during protests on April 10. Osama al-Sheikha, 40, was among a group of men armed with sticks guarding a mosque in Baniyas, where the army has since been deployed to contain protests. Pro-government gunmen shot at them with AK-47 rifles, witnesses said. Protesters also marched in Daraa on Saturday, chanting "the people want to overthrow the regime", according to Reuters. ?

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies