Beirut, April 07: Syria lifted a ban on teachers wearing the full face veil and ordered the closure of a casino, moves aimed at placating conservative Muslims in the tightly-controlled country that has seen weeks of unrest.
Last month pro-democracy protests erupted in the majority Sunni Muslim city of Deraa and later spread to other cities, including the religiously-mixed port city of Latakia, posing the greatest challenge to Assad’s 11-year rule.
Wednesday’s decisions are aimed at assuaging religious conservatives in the majority Sunni Muslim country, where the ruling hierarchy is of the minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shia Islam.
Assad’s Baath Party, in power for over 48 years, is secular, but the cornerstone of Damascus’ foreign policy is its anti-Israeli alliance with Shia Iran and Shia militant group Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas.
-Agencies