Jordan's King to Syrian Prez: 'Step Down'

Arab Parliament angered by ongoing killings

(AP) - A pan-Arab body called today for the immediate withdrawal of the Arab League monitors in Syria because President Bashar Assad's regime has kept up killings of government opponents even in the presence of the observers. The 88-member Arab Parliament said that Arabs are angered by the Syrian regime's ongoing killings while the nearly 100 monitors are in the country. The monitors are supposed to be ensuring Syria complies with terms of the League's plan to end the 9-month-old crackdown on dissent—a plan Syria agreed to on Dec. 19. More»

Candlelit vigil to honor fallen Syrians, canceled for unknown reasons

(AP) - Activists in Syria canceled the first government-approved demonstration in the capital since a 48-year-old state of emergency was lifted last month, an official said today. The silent candlelight vigil in a Damascus public garden was to have honored some 900 people who have been killed since the uprising against President Bashar Assad's rule began in mid-March. All demonstrations had been banned in Syria under state of emergency laws that were abolished last month; now organizers must get official permission. But human rights activists have scoffed at the rule, saying they would be targeted if they tried to organize an anti-government demonstration. More»

Josh Gerstein lays out the hot-button points

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama will give a major speech on the Mideast at 11:40am ET today, in which he'll share his vision of the role America should play in a region that's been battling unrest for four months now. Josh Gerstein provides a primer on Politico . Your ears should perk up when Obama broaches these five topics:

• Syria: How far will he go, asks Gerstein? We just slapped sanctions on Bashar al-Assad, but some lawmakers want Obama to flat-out call for Assad to go, as he did with Hosni Mubarak in Egypt (which worked) and Moammar Gadhafi (which hasn't). Gerstein thinks it's unlikely he'll go that far, though. "The president may not want to add to the list of dictators thumbing their noses at the US."

And it may soon help protesters in Bahrain, Yemen

(NEWSER) - Iran has a hand in the revolutions currently sweeping the rest of the Arab world. In Syria, Iran is secretly assisting President Bashar al-Assad to quell the pro-democracy demonstrations, US officials say. But in Bahrain and Yemen, Iran is looking to aid Shiite protesters, thus destabilizing the countries—both US allies. US officials appear to be releasing the information, gathered by spy agencies, in a bid to show Iran that it is being watched, the Wall Street Journal reports. "We're keeping an eye on these activities," a White House official tells the paper. More»

President Bashar Assad expected to lift emergency law

(AP) - Syria's Cabinet has stepped down, and President Bashar Assad accepted the resignation following a meeting today, according to state-run television. It's the latest concession by the government aimed at appeasing more than a week of mass protests. Assad is expected to address the nation in the next 24 hours to announce he is lifting the emergency law and moving to annul other harsh restrictions on civil liberties and political freedoms. More»