Syria's government on Tuesday decided to lift the 'Emergency Law' that has been in place for 48 years, Gulf News reports.
The move meets a key demand of anti-government demonstrators, but opposition leaders have panned the move calling it a whitewash by Syrian President Bashar Al Assad.
"This is a maneuvre to gain time," prominent Syrian writer Yassin Haj Saleh, who spent 16 years in jail as a political dissident, was quoted as saying.
"They are basically telling the people, we have fulfilled your demands, so go home and if you don't we'll break your head," Saleh told the Associated Press from Beirut. "But in reality nothing will change."
The opposition's response may indicate Syria's month-old protests are taking a harder line: protesters initially supported Assad while seeking reform, but calls for Assad's ouster have begun to mount.
At the same time, a bill regulating demonstrations was approved by the Syrian Cabinet, the Syrian government news agency Sana reported.
The bill came just hours after security forces killed four protesters in the city of Homs, leading the the interior ministry to impose a ban on political gatherings.
Interior Minister Mohammad Ebrahim A-Shaar earlier warned Syrians "to refrain from taking part in all marches, demonstrations or sit-ins under any banner whatsoever."
He warned demonstrators, "the laws in force in Syria will be applied in the interest of the safety of the people and the stability of the country."
Both the repeal of the emergency law and regulation of demonstrators will have to be ratified by Syria's parliament, which is not due to meet before May 2.
At least 200 people have been killed by security forces or plain-clothes police since the start of the protest movement.