http://www.billingsgazette.com/index...riaprotest.inc
DAMASCUS, Syria - More than half a million Syrians demanded political and economic reform in a petition to be handed to President Bashar Assad, a human rights group said Saturday.
Some 600,000 citizens, including intellectuals, lawyers and human rights activists, have already signed the document, the Committees for the Defense of Democratic Liberties and Human Rights in Syria said.
The group said it hoped for a million signatures by March. Syria has a population of around 18 million.
A copy of the petition, faxed to news organizations in Damascus, said the country has been "languishing under the duress of the emergency law since 1963, whose impacts have been extended to include all fields of public life."
Aktham Naisse, chairman of the group, told reporters the petition would be presented to Syrian authorities on March 8, 41 years after the law was introduced under the ruling Baath Party.
It calls for the abrogation of the martial law, the release of political detainees and return of all exiles. It also asks for details about the fate of missing people.
Since he took office in July 2000, Syrian President Bashar Assad has introduced political and economic reforms that are improving the lives of most Syrians, but he rejects Western-style democracy.
He has released hundreds of political prisoners, but also clamped down on pro-democracy activist