Syrian govt. could step down today as protests divide country

Syria on Tuesday offered olive branch to the swelling ranks of protesters by announcing the intent to carry out a full clean-up of the government even as the country slipped into a visible division between those who support president Bashar Al-Assad and those baying for his blood.

The Syrian cabinet will resign on Tuesday and a new one will be installed within 24 hours, AFP has reported, quoting a high-ranking Libyan official. The government will tender its resignation today and a new cabinet should be formed within 24 hours, an unnamed source was quoted by the agency.

After the carnage in Deraa and the high-voltage protests following it, thousand of Bashar supporters congregated in central Damascus, pledging allegiance to the Assad clan.

Bashar al-Assad is the spine of Syria. Without him, our country will be pushed into chaos, one supporter was quoted as saying.

The recent spate of protests in Syria, which took inspiration from similar movements in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, has leveled the most serious challenge to the Assad clan's grip on power since 1963.

Syria has been under an emergency law since the time president Bashar al-Assad's 's father, Hafez al-Assad, took power leading the Baathist party. Thousands of people have disappeared over the decades as the regime sought to suppress all dissent.

Most of the Syrians' anger stems from the extreme political oppression by the Baathist regime. The numerous intelligence agencies are accused of wrongfully detaining people suspected of disloyalty to the regime.

At least 130 people have been killed in the protests so far, most in the tribal region of Deraa, according to rights activists.

Meanwhile, the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the U.S. was not planning to engage in Syria the same was as in Libya. The Syrian government has used force against the anti-government protesters, but the situation hasn’t deteriorated to a level where international action is required, Clinton explained.