CAIRO — In his first address to the nation after bloody protests and calls for reform, President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday blamed a broad conspiracy from beyond his borders 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.
The speech had been highly anticipated inside and outside Syria for signs that Mr. Assad would lift or ease the state of emergency that has underpinned his Baath Party’s hold on power since 1963. But he made no reference to any such action and the speech seemed likely to dismay protesters who have been demanding reform.
Mr. Assad’s appearance had been forecast as an attempt to calm tensions after government forces repeatedly opened fire on demonstrators in recent days, killing dozens of people as Syrians clamored for the same reforms that have become the rallying cry of many across the Arab world.
Smiling and looking relaxed, Mr. Assad spoke of “the plots that are being hatched against our country” and said they represented a “test of our unity.”
“We are for reform and we are for meeting the people’s demands,” Mr. Assad said, referring to legislative changes under consideration for years but not carried out because of what he called a series of regional crises. “The first priority was to the stability of Syria, to maintain stability.”
He added: “We are not in favor of chaos and destruction.”
He acknowledged that “Syrian people have demands that have not been met,” but said that those grievances were “used as a cover to dupe the people to go to the streets.” He added that “some of them had good intentions.”
“It is not a secret now that Syria is being subject to a conspiracy,” he said. “The timing and shape depends on what is happening in other Arab countries. “
But he insisted that his regime would not be pressured into what he described as premature change.
Before Mr. Assad spoke, tens of thousands poured into the streets of the southern town of Dara’a after mourners from four funerals joined into a large antigovernment protest, according to a witness interviewed by telephone.
Then after the speech, about 3,000 people marched in a separate demonstration through the northwestern town of Latakia to voice their opposition to Mr. Assad, and security forces opened fire. A witness said that at least two people had been killed and another wounded.
Mr. Assad’s speech came a day after his cabinet resigned in what was seen as a significant — if primarily symbolic — gesture in a nation where the leadership rarely responds to public pressure and where decisions are made not by the cabinet but by the president and his inner circle, including multiple security services.
Mr. Assad initially boasted that his nation was immune to the popular unrest that has swept the region. But events in Syria have played out much as they have in other countries — moving from denial to a bloody crackdown to efforts at appeasement. Now he has little room to maneuver in terms of offering concessions without undermining his leadership and that of his allies.
“The emergency law is a cornerstone of Baathist rule, and once it goes everything else might go with it,” said Karim Émile Bitar, a researcher at the Institute for International and Strategic Relations in Paris. “Things could collapse for them if they’re serious about lifting it: liberation of political prisoners, multiple parties, no more harassing activists. People are going to use this to air more and more grievances.”
The resignation of the cabinet came as the government worked hard to restore its credibility after thousands marched against it around the country and the military took up positions in cities in the north and south. Tens of thousands of government supporters rallied in Damascus, the capital, on Tuesday, waving flags and pictures of Mr. Assad. The government apparently bused many of them in and pressured others to attend the rally.
Government supporters poured into the Square of the Seven Seas in Damascus, with thousands standing under a 45-foot-long portrait of the president on the Syrian national bank building. They chanted, “Only God, Syria and Bashar!” and “With our soul, with our blood, we will redeem you, Bashar.”
As the crowds dispersed early in the afternoon a sense of carnival prevailed, with smiling children and couples holding hands and eating ice cream. Cars around the city honked their horns in support of Mr. Assad and stern young men sat atop microbuses, clutching pictures of the president. Similar rallies were held in major cities, with the noticeable exception of Latakia —where a sit-in by hundreds of protesters had continued Tuesday — and Dara’a in the south. The military’s presence has been heavily felt in both cities after recent violence.
The protests began more than a week ago in Dara’a, after the police arrested a group of young people for scrawling antigovernment graffiti. The ripples were felt nationwide after government forces fired on demonstrators. Protesters set fire to party offices in several towns, toppled a statue of the former president, Hafez al-Assad, Mr. Assad’s father, and tore down billboards of the current president, actions that have been unheard of in the police state.
