EU Says Assad's Reform Offer Must be Put into Effect

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on Thursday dubbed Syria's multi-party reform offer "a step in the right direction" but on condition it be put into effect.

"We are still waiting for previously announced reforms to be implemented," Ashton said in a statement issued after President Bashar al-Assad issued a decree allowing opposition political parties.

The latest reforms announced by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are "in principle a step in the right direction, but only if they are genuinely put into effect," Ashton said.

The new law would allow parties alongside Assad's Baath party, in power since 1963, meeting demands by pro-reform dissidents who since March 15 have been demanding pluralism.

Assad's latest concession came hours after the U.N. Security Council condemned his regime's deadly crackdown on dissent and said those responsible should be held accountable.

Ashton said the U.N. statement was a clear signal to Assad "to listen to the international community, to finally stop the violence, to protect the Syrian people".