AMMAN (Reuters) – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has ordered troops not to fire on pro-democracy demonstrators, a rights campaigner said, ahead of Friday prayers that have become a rallying point for protesters in an eight-week uprising.Louay Hussein said Assad’s adviser Bouthaina Shaaban told him in a phone call on Thursday that “definitive presidential orders have been issued not to shoot demonstrators and whoever violates this bears full responsibility.”Hussein was among four opposition figures who saw Shaaban this month and presented demands that included an end to violent repression of protesters and the introduction of political reform in the country, ruled by the Assad family since 1970.The meetings were the first between the opposition and senior officials since demonstration… …
Categories: Asia, Middle East, Syria