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A new day on the horizen in Syria

Published:Saturday | April 16, 2011 | 12:29 PM

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says he expects a state of emergency to be lifted next week, after weeks of anti-government protests.



He made the comments in a televised speech to his newly formed cabinet.The lifting of the 48-year-old emergency law has been a key demand of the protesters.



On Friday, tens of thousands of demonstrators rallied in Damascus, in one of the biggest such turnouts since protests began last month.