Syria's foreign minister announced on Saturday that free elections will be held by the end of the year, even as the country's military tightened its deadly grip on the city of Hama.
The city has been under siege for almost a week as the military tries to crush the anti-regime uprising. Protestors are demanding the ouster of President Bashar Assad.
Associated Press journalist Zeina Karam told Â鶹´«Ã½ Channel on Saturday that the announcement is unlikely to have much effect on the country's opposition.
"The government has been making overtures and pledges of reform for several months now," she said from Beirut, Lebanon. "But as in previous promises of reforms, today's announcement is unlikely to have much resonance."
Assad's four-year term expired earlier this year.
Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem promised the elections will be held before the end of 2011 and he said that the new parliament "will represent the aspirations of the Syrian people."
"The ballot box will be the determining factor and it will be up to the elected parliament to review adopted draft bills to decide on them," he said during a meeting he held with Arab and foreign ambassadors in Damascus.
On Friday, tens of thousands of protestors marched in cities around the country and were met by gunfire from Syrian troops.
Syria-based rights activist Mustafa Osso told The Associated Press that at least 24 civilians were killed when security forces opened fire during daytime protests and late night demonstrations following evening Ramadan prayers.
Karam said there has been little news coming from Hama, which has been under a media blackout.
"The people who did manage to speak spoke of catastrophic conditions," she said.
Electricity, Internet and phone lines have been cut for seven days and residents have reported a dwindling supply of food and medical supplies amid frequent shelling and raids.
Rights groups have said that at least 100 people have been killed overall in the uprisings, while some estimates put the number as high as 250.
On Saturday, the Gulf Arab countries broke their silence, calling for an immediate end to the bloodshed and the U.S. State Department urged Americans to leave the country immediately.
Hama, about 200 kilometres north of the capital Damascus, holds significance for Syrians because of a 1982 massacre that killed between 10,000 and 25,000 people.
With files from The Associated Press
