The government in Syria, which has been hit by a deadly wave of dissent for two weeks, will resign today and a new one will see the light within 24 hours, a high-ranking official told AFP.
With President Bashar al-Assad facing his worst domestic crisis since succeeding his father when he died in 2000, tens of thousands of Syrians today flooded central Damascus in a show of support for the embattled leader.
Speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, the official said the government would "tender its resignation today and a new cabinet should be formed within 24 hours."
Prime Minister Mohammed Naji Otri formed his government in 2003. It was last re-shuffled in April 2009.
Syria has been gripped by a wave of increasingly violent protests since mid-March, which have put Assad under unprecedented pressure as protesters call for freedoms and reforms.
Assad is expected to address his people in the coming days to announce the end of a state of emergency, in force since the ruling Baath party took power in 1963.
Protests demanding change have largely centred in the southern governorate of Daraa and the northern port city of Latakia.
Activists say more than 130 people have been killed and scores injured in clashes with security forces at rallies where protesters have demanded more freedoms and reforms.
Officials have accused "armed gangs" and Muslim fundamentalists of aiming to incite the unrest and put the death toll at around 30.
All roads leading to Sabeh Bahrat ("Seven Seas") square in Damascus were cut off today by police armed with batons, as men, women and children raised Syrian flags and pictures of Assad and his father, Hafez al-Assad.
"The people want Bashar al-Assad," they chanted in unison, under a massive picture of their blue-eyed president that had been hoisted on Syria's central bank.
"We are here to show the real will of the Syrian people, and that is to protect and support their president, may God protect him," said a young woman named Raghad, who turned out early for the rally with her sisters.
"This rally is to stop the plot to destroy Syrian unity," said a man who identified himself as Abu Khodr.
"Bashar al-Assad is the spine of Syria. Without him, our country will be pushed into chaos."
The rally comes after a pledge by the authorities to lift the state of emergency as part of a package of reforms.
Buthaina Shaaban, a top advisor to Assad, on Sunday told AFP authorities had decided to end the state of emergency.
