Syria's president allows multi-party system

DAMASCUS, Syria - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad endorsed on Thursday multi-party and general election laws as part of a series of reforms to meet the Syrian people's demands, Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported.

The multi-party law would allow other parties to compete with the ruling Baath party in any coming elections, while the election law would regulate the parliamentary and local council elections and ensure the safety of the electoral process and the right of candidates to supervise the process.

Meanwhile, Syrian security forces shot dead six people who took part in protests that erupted after special nighttime Ramadan prayers across the country, activists said on Thursday.

The latest killings came as telephone and communication lines remained cut with the restive central city of Hama, where a deadly military operation has been under way since Sunday.

About 1,700 civilians have been killed since protests against Assad's government began in mid-March, according to tallies by activists.

Amateur videos posted by activists online showed dozens of people in Damascus' district of Midan clapping their hands and shouting: "We don't love you, Bashar!" and "Bashar, leave!" after emerging from the city's Daqaq Mosque.

The footage, which activists said was taken on Wednesday night, then shows chaos breaking out as gunfire is heard, and the camera zooms onto vehicles with bullet holes and smashed windows.

UN condemnation

After months of deadlock, the UN Security Council finally responded to the escalating violence in Syria on Wednesday, condemning Assad's forces for attacking civilians and committing human rights violations.

The trigger for the council to act was the military assault launched by the Syrian government over the weekend against the city of Hama, 210 kilometers north of the capital Damascus. The offensive by Syrian forces, backed by tanks and snipers, was continuing on Wednesday with reports of at least 100 dead in four days.

The presidential statement adopted by the Security Council calls on Syrian authorities to immediately end all violence and launch an inclusive political process that will allow the Syrian people to fully exercise "fundamental freedoms ... including that of expression and peaceful assembly".

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the adoption of a presidential statement by the Security Council condemning Syria, calling it "the clear message" of the international community, and called for the immediate cease of violence.

"The world has watched a deteriorating situation in Syria with the most profound concern but the events of the past few days have been brutally shocking," Ban said.

Assad has recently introduced a package of new measures aiming to ease restraints on politics and the economy, such as lifting the controversial state of emergency that had been in place for around 50 years, giving unprecedented freedom in different spheres and granting general amnesty.

The Baath party took over power in Syria following a 1963 coup that overthrew the military junta.

Hafez Assad came to power seven years later and his son, Bashar Assad, succeeded him when he died in June 2000.