Protesters took to the streets across Syria on Monday to denounce a speech by President Bashar Assad they said did not meet popular demands for sweeping political change, activists and witnesses said.
"No to dialogue with murderers," chanted 300 protesters in the Damascus suburb of Irbin, a witness told Reuters by telephone, with the slogans echoing in the background.
- Receive Ynetnews updates directly
to your desktop
In a speech at Damascus University dominated by security concerns, Assad accused "saboteurs" among protesters demanding and end to his 11-year rule of serving a foreign conspiracy to sow chaos.
Under mounting international pressure and facing wider street protests despite a military crackdown that has killed more than 1,300 people, Assad, from Syria's minority Alawite sect, said political reforms he had launched since the 3-month uprising would stabilize the country and diffuse grievances.
But in the Sunni Sleibeh and Raml al-Filistini districts of the mixed coastal city of Latakia, where several Sunni neighborhoods have been surrounded by troops and armor for weeks, protesters chanted "liar, liar".
"People were still hoping he would say something meaningful that would result in tanks and troops leaving the streets. They were disappointed and started going out as soon as Assad finished talking," one activist in Latakia said.
Demonstrations also took place in the eastern city of Albu Kamal on the border with Iraq, the southern city of Deraa and other towns in the Hauran Plain, cradle of the uprising, now in its fourth month, and at the campus of Aleppo University, activists said.
Barak predicts Assad's 'demise'
Meanwhile Defense Minister Ehud Barak predicted Monday Assad will reach his "demise" within six months because he has lost his legitimacy.
"It's my personal judgment that Bashar Assad crossed the point of no return towards his demise," Ehud Barack said in an interview with The Associated Press.
"(Assad) ended up using too much brutal force, too many graves have been dug and he lost practically his legitimacy in the eyes of the Syrian people," Barak told the AP. "He probably will stay around for another quarter or two but that will not change his fate."
Also Monday, the European Union said it was preparing to expand its sanctions on Syria in response to worsening violence by its regime.
"The EU is actively preparing to expand its restrictive measures by additional designations with a view to achieving a fundamental change of policy by the Syrian leadership without delay," a statement agreed by EU foreign ministers said.
EU diplomats said they expected a decision to expand the sanctions later in the week.
- Follow Ynetnews on Facebook