Syrian Government has announced that it has lifted emergency laws in the countries which were in place for 48 years, just hours after security forces fired on protesters.
A senior lawyer said Bashar al-Assad, Syria's president, was yet to sign the legislation, but that
his signature were a formality.
According to the country's official SANA news agency the government also abolished the state security court, which handled the trials of political prisoners, and approved a new law allowing the right to peaceful protests.
However the interior ministry also passed a law that says citizens must obtain permission to demonstrate, the agency said, hours after the ministry imposed a total ban on political gatherings.
Syria's emergency law gave the government a free hand to arrest people without charge and extended the state's authority into virtually every aspect of citizens' lives.
Cal Perry, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Damascus, said the three steps were a major concession to protesters.
"The people on the ground here really wanted to see not only that court dissolved but also the state of emergency lifted because of these arbitrary detentions, as they would put it.
