The portrait of dictator Bashar al-Assad on a building in Damascus, Syria (Photo Creative Commons)

An advisor to dictator Bashar al-Assad told an Al Jazeera reporter that "absolutely" the 48-year reign of emergency rule would be concluded, although no specific dates have been given.  The vague timetable has been labeled "a move to placate protesters" that "has been widely viewed as a delaying tactic by the government," according to newspaper The Guardian.

Those protesters have been increasingly bold in their opposition, with uprisings spreading from the border city of Daraa to Latakia, north of the capital, Damascus.  Anti-government protests there led to clashes with security forces and violence that left at least 12 dead. 

Authorities blamed the deaths on vague "armed elements."

Meanwhile, two Reuters video journalists have gone missing, the news agency announced Sunday.  Their disappearance comes after another Reuters journalist was kicked out of the country for his coverage of the unrest, which Syria labeled "unprofessional and false."  Reuters has stood by its reporting done from within the country.

President Assad is expected to address the nation in "24 to 48 hours," according to a key presidential aide.