Syria to lift emergency law, official says

Syria to lift emergency lawSTORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: Assad is expected to address the country "within the next couple of days," a source says Syria will lift 1963 emergency law, information ministry official saysSyrian government asks people to ignore calls for rallies in a Damascus squareViolence has been reported in Daraa, Latakia and elsewhere (CNN) -- Syria will lift its emergency law that has been in place nearly 50 years, a government official said Sunday, as the country grapples with deadly violence surrounding anti-government protests.

"I can tell you that it will be lifted," said Reem Haddad, spokeswoman for the Syrian Information Ministry, discussing the law that allows the government to make preventive arrests and override constitutional and penal code statutes.

It is too early to say when the emergency law will be lifted, she added, in an interview with CNN.

In effect since 1963, the law also bars detainees who haven't been charged from filing court complaints or from having a lawyer present during interrogations.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was also expected to address his embattled nation, amid reports of protesters being shot to death in recent days as they called for government reforms. A source close to the Syrian government told CNN that Assad is expected to speak to the nation "within the next couple of days," and likely not Sunday.

Violence has consumed recent demonstrations in the restive city of Daraa and the coastal town of Latakia, according to witnesses.

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