Syria promises free election this year as its forces tighten siege to crush protests in Hama

BEIRUT — The Syrian military tightened its suffocating siege on the city of Hama on Saturday in its drive to crush the main center of the anti-regime uprising in the country, even as the foreign minister promised that free parliamentary elections would be held by the end of the year in a gesture of reform.

Like previous reform promises, the new announcement is unlikely to have much resonance with Syria's opposition, which says it has lost all confidence in President Bashar Assad's overtures.

The four-year term of the current parliament expired earlier this year and Assad is expected to set a date for new legislative elections before the end of 2011.

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Peter Wallsten 07 Aug, 2011

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Source: http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=ab5ecbde8f9084945a62a15c54d648c2
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