Syrian cabinet resigned,President Bashar al-Assad may address in 24 hours

Syria's cabinet ministers resigned Tuesday, the latest concession by the government to the popular unrest that has rocked the country for over a week. President Bashar al-Assad accepted the Cabinet's resignation following a meeting Tuesday, Syrian state TV reported. Mr. Assad is expected to address the nation in the next 24 hours to announce he is lifting the emergency law and annulling other harsh restrictions on civil liberties and political freedoms. WSJ's Farnaz Fassihi reports Syria's cabinet is poised to resign as part of concessions to protesters, who have taken to the streets in four cities. Hundreds of thousands of supporters of Syria's regime rallied on the streets of Damascus and at least four other major cities, waving pictures of the president and flags, as the government tried to show it has mass support in the face of protests demanding more freedoms. Mr. Assad, whose family has controlled Syria for four decades and has a history of brutally crushing dissent, is trying to calm these protests with concessions. The resignations won't affect Mr. Assad, who holds the lion's share of power in the authoritarian regime. Mr. Assad, 45 years old, is now facing down the most serious threat to his family's longstanding authority in this predominantly Sunni country ruled by the minority Alawite sect.