Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to address the country for the first time in two months as security forces attempt to block refugees fleeing to Turkey.The Syrian people will have better representation under the new draft act, says Assad.
A committee has been formed to combat corruption. The media will be the eye and the voice of citizens.
Somewhat ominously, he says workshops have been set up to "educate the media", although Assad says this is so the media can operate as a "transparent channel" between the people and the authorities.
The role of political authorities will be examined to give scope for wider participation by different political parties, says Assad.
There will be a review of the constitution. Some of its articles must be revised or a new constitution created, says Assad. These proposals will be put to the national dialogue meetings. More applause.
I have not met a single person opposing reform ....What we are doing now is to shape the future ...it will have consequences for the future generations for decades from now ...We wish to ensure the most and the widest participation in the national dialogue.
10.36am: Assad says he has been meeting diverse people from different locations, some of whom have taken part in the demonstrations.
The benefit of these meetings was "exceptional" and he felt "love from the Syrian people".
Another burst of applause.
With their help, Assad says he can take actions.
He calls for citizens to monitor corruption at all levels in Syria.
He's talking about a "national dialogue authority" which he says has been formed and which he is part of. It has the responsibility of creating a reform plan. Assad says everyone can take part and draft laws proposed can be examined.
People "from all walks of life will take part to agree upon the criteria".
The future of Syria will be built upon this central national dialogue.
Emphasising the involvement of the public he says "tens or hundreds cannot think for millions".
Lifting the emergency law does not mean people have freedom to violate the law.
10.23am: Assad moves onto "radical and blasphemous intellectuals ...wreaking havoc in the name of freedom".
Some are "being paid money to film demonstrations" and communicate with the media, says Assad. Others are being paid to attend demonstrations in Syria.
People "have smeared the image of the country abroad and called for international intervention". They expressed "ugly thoughts far from our religion".
They "represent a very small slice of the Syrian people".
They have resorted to armed action. They have "perpetrated these heinous massacres we have seen on television".
There is a great deal of malice and hatred.
Without "patriotic sentiment" the situation in Syria would be much worse.
What is happening today is not related to reform or development, it is mere vandalism.
We have a complete generation of children who have learned chaos, mayhem and have not learned respect for the rule of law, says Assad, cueing more applause.
10.14am: Assad says he will not pay any attention to any external matter, for which he receives another round of applause.
He says there are people in Syria making legitimate demands.
We should listen and lend a helping hand to them.
Efforts to enforce the rule of law do not justify ignoring demands, says Assad.
Vandals are a very little group, he says.
We should distinguish those demand-makers and vandals.
Those making demands are not foreign influenced, says Assad.
He refers to the "black era" of the Muslim Brotherhood.
He talks about the recent pardon for political prisoners. "There is a desire to have it more comprehensive," says Assad. He says it is the most comprehensive since 1988.
Assad says he will instruct the minister of justice to examine expanding the pardon without compromising security.
There are a number of outlaws wanted for crimes targeting state institutions, says Assad.
They saw this situation as a "golden opportunity". There are 64,400 outlaws, says Assad. By this I think he means people not in custody but wanted for offences. This is equivalent to a "complete army" says Assad.
10.06am: Lessons must be learnt from what has been happening in Syria, says Assad.
Is it a conspiracy? Who is pulling the strings?
Syria has never had a time when it was not the target of conspiracies, says Assad.
Conspiracies like germs, reproducing everywhere, in every moment.
He talks of "a conspiracy designed abroad and perpetrated in our country."
Assad returns to the germs analogy:
"Germs are everywhere, within our bodies and without our bodies."
"We are being pressured to let go of our principles," says Assad.
10.03am: Assad says all the rumours you have heard about the president, his family and his work are false, which gets a round of applause.
He says this is a "defining moment in the country's history".
Innocent blood has been shed in Syria, says Assad.
We hope to restore the pictures of serenity..integrity.
Assad says "many martyrs have fallen on both sides". He offers his condolences.
9.59am: Syrian president Assad starts by saying peace upon the security forces and those "throttling" the "sedition".
He also says peace upon the mothers who have lost children.
Assad says he would like to meet every citizen but by meeting some he believes he is communicating with all.
He says he delayed the speech because he didn't just want to issue "propaganda."
9.56am: Assad is likely to propose amending Syria's constitution to end the ruling Ba'ath Party's monopoly on political power while retaining its central role, the LA Times reports, citing a high-ranking official in Damascus.
According to the Ba'ath Party official, who spoke to The Times on condition of anonymity, embattled President Bashar Assad will soon propose a change in the language of Article 8 of the Syrian Constitution from granting his party "leadership of state and society" to "leadership in state and society," in an attempt to meet domestic and international demands for change ...
"With this amendment, the Ba'ath Party becomes a party operating on Syrian territory and have priority in the state as a result of tradition," said the high-ranking official, who did not want his name to be used because he was not authorised to speak to foreign media. "A law of parties will be introduced within 30 days, allowing political parties to obtain licenses and giving the right to any group to establish a political party on Syrian territory and to compete with the Ba'ath Party and the Progressive Front," a collection of Ba'ath front groups.
But the Times said opposition supporters said such reforms do not go far enough.
Live blog: Twitter
Assad is due to speak shortly. The Guardian's Martin Chulov tweets:
Assad to speak in Damascus soon - comforted, no doubt, by Medvedev's vow to stand by him. The Russian pres still sees him as a 'reformer'.
Assad's 1st speech in March a thuggish warning. His second weeks later no better. Today's needs to be different. #Syria
William Hague Photograph: Wpa Pool/Getty Images
9.47am: The UK foreign secretary William Hague says he hopes Turkey will play an influential role in conveying the will of the international community to the Syrian president. Arriving in Luxembourg for a meeting of European Union foreign ministers, Hague said.
I hope our Turkish colleagues will bring every possible pressure to bear on the Assad regime with a very clear message that they are losing legitimacy and that Assad should reform or step aside.
9.43am: The Egyptian elections are exposing divisions in the Muslim Brotherhood, with members holding views more divergent than many would expect within the group that is the subject of much fear and distrust in the west, the New York Times reports.
Abdel Moneim Abou el-Fotouh is a popular leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and a candidate to become Egypt's first president since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak.
But he is not running as a Brotherhood candidate; in fact, he is running despite its opposition and openly criticizing many of its decisions. And instead of demonstrating the group's growing power as Egypt's best-organized political movement, his candidacy is exposing its internal divisions, as the unifying sense of opposition to a secular dictatorship fades and various factions — including two breakaway political parties and much of the group's youth — move toward the political centre ...
Dr Abou el-Fotouh cites verses of the Koran to support the right of Muslim women to reject the veil, the freedom of Muslims or Christians to ignore Islam's prohibition on alcohol, the right of a woman or non-Muslim to hold the office of Egypt's president, the separation of the Brotherhood's religious mission from politics, and his own opposition to the Brotherhood's recent proposal to require Muslims to pay 2.5% of their income to a state-sponsored charity in fulfilment of the Islamic charitable duty known as zakat.
9.22am: Despite being largely overshadowed by events elsewhere, protests have continued in Morocco and there were clashes on Sunday.
Pro-government demonstrators attacked democracy activists protesting against the constitutional reforms unveiled by the king on Friday, which they believe do not go far enough. AP reports:
Hundreds of youths pledging their support to King Mohammed VI scattered the pro-reform demonstrations taking place in a lower-income neighbourhood in Rabat, hunting them through the narrow streets.
An hour before the protest by the "February 20" reform group was set to begin in the neighbourhood of Taqqadum, the streets were filled with hundreds of young men riding in trucks accompanied by musicians calling for support for the king and his constitution.
When they encountered the democracy activists attempting to begin their own protest, they pelted them with stones and eggs and attacked them. They were later joined by youths from the neighbourhood, some of whom hurled glass bottles at cars believed to contain activists.
"It is the same as the baltigiya of Egypt," said activist Zineb Belmkaddem, referring to the notorious government-hired thugs that would attack Egypt's pro-democracy demonstrators during the uprising there months ago.
Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali Photograph: Fethi Belaid/AFP/Getty Images
9.05am: In Tunisia today, the trial of Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in absentia will begin today with a verdict possible today, AP reports. Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia on 14 January in the face of a popular uprising, which inspired similar uprisings throughout the region.
The Tunis Criminal Court is hearing two embezzlement, money laundering and drug trafficking cases against the ousted dictator. The charges were brought after the discovery of around $27 million in jewels and cash plus drugs and weapons at two palaces outside Tunis after he fled the country. Saudi Arabia did not respond to an extradition request.
Five public defenders have been assigned to Ben Ali and his wife, Leila Trabelsi, who is accused in one of the two cases in Monday's trial. Tunisian law prohibits a foreign lawyer from defending a client in absentia, judicial officials say, meaning French lawyer Jean-Yves Le Borgne cannot take part in proceedings.
Ben Ali and his wife are charged in the discovery of a hoard of valuable jewels and cash in Tunisian and foreign currency at a palace in a village north of Tunis.
The second case surrounds the seizure of arms and drugs at the official presidential palace in Carthage during a search by a commission investigating abuse of authority formed after Ben Ali's departure. He faces charges of possessing and trafficking drugs, detention of arms and munitions and failing to declare archaeological works also found at the palace.
If convicted, Ben Ali faces five to 20 years in prison for each offence.
More serious charges, including plotting against the security of the state and murder, will be dealt with at future trials. Judicial authorities say that Ben Ali and his entourage are implicated in 93 civil cases and 182 others that fall under military jurisdiction.
In the statement released by Le Borgne, Ben Ali "vigorously denies" accusations against him, saying he never had huge sums of money and claiming most of the weapons found were gifts from visiting heads of state. Ben Ali said:
I devoted my life to my country and aspire, at the twilight of my existence, to conserve my honour.
8.50am: Welcome to Middle East Live. The eyes of the world will be on the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, today, as he addresses the nation for the first time in two months (due at 10am BST). It will be only his third such speech since the uprising began with protests in the southern Hauran Plain on 18 March. In a newspaper interview, Syria's ambassador to Washington said his government differentiates between the legitimate demands of protesters and those of armed gangs and that Assad would deal with "all these issues in his speech".
More than 10,000 Syrian refugees have already crossed into Turkey and Turkish officials say another 10,000 are sheltering close to the border just inside Syria in the olive groves and rich farmland around the town of Jisr al-Shughour. But Syrian human rights campaigner Ammar al-Qurabi told Reuters the army was now stopping those still inside Syria from leaving.He said
The Syrian army has spread around the border area to prevent frightened residents from fleeing across the border to Turkey.
Qurabi also accused pro-government forces of attacking people trying to aid the refugees.
The Turkish government appears to be rapidly losing patience with the Syrian regime. It sent an envoy to Damascus on Sunday with a letter calling for the immediate removal of Assad's brother, Maher al-Assad, seen as the enforcer of the violent crackdown, from his post as commander of the army's elite Fourth Division and Presidential Guards, the Telegraph reports. Maher al-Assad's control of the security apparatus makes him more powerful than his brother, according to some analysts.
Whatever, Assad says in his speech today, it seems unlikely the prospect of a UN security council resolution condemning the Syrian regime will move any closer given comments by the Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, in an interview in the Financial Times today. Russia has a veto on the council. The FT reports:
Speaking of the worsening situation facing Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian leader, Mr Medvedev said: "I would not like a Syrian resolution to be pulled off in a similar manner [to Libya]."
He said he would not even support a watered-down UN resolution, such as the one circulated by Britain and France 10 days ago, which had condemned Mr Assad's regime without supporting sanctions or military measures.
Despite Russia's position the US is examining whether war crimes charges could be brought against Assad, the New York Times reports:
One senior administration official disclosed that the United States was examining whether Mr. Assad's actions constituted war crimes and whether it was possible to seek international legal action against him, his government or Syria's police forces and military.
The official said the United States was "looking into" whether "there are grounds here for charges related to war crimes, and whether referrals on that are appropriate."
The official said the administration was also examining "additional economic steps — and one, in particular, has to do with the oil and gas sector in Syria."
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