Syria frees 48 Kurds, hoping to ease grievances

Syria has released 48 ethnic Kurds, a rights group said, in the latest move by President Bashar al-Assad to try to ease resentment over nearly five decades of authoritarian Baathist rule.

Once unthinkable popular protests have shaken mainly Sunni Muslim Syria for nearly three weeks, with demonstrators demanding an end to emergency law and one-party rule by the Baath Party. (Reuters)