Syria pledges to consider greater freedoms

The Syrian government says it will consider lifting a state of emergency in place since 1963 and is moving to allow greater political freedoms in response to days of unrest in a southern city.

Presidential adviser Buthaina Shaaban says the government is drafting a law that would allow political parties besides the ruling Baath party. She tells reporters that President Bashar Assad's government will begin studying a possible ending to the emergency laws and putting in place mechanisms for fighting corruption. (AP)