CAIRO — In his first address to the nation after bloody protests and calls for reform, President Basher al-Assad blamed a broad conspiracy from beyond his borders on Wednesday for Syria’s turmoil and offered no concessions to ease his authoritarian regime’s grip on public life.
To apparently choreographed cries of support and applause, Mr. Assad appeared only briefly before the country’s Parliament for what had been billed as a major speech that would define his response to the biggest challenge facing the government’s authority in decades.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/31/wo...1syria.html?hp
Note: Update Record, March 30, 2011