The Syrian Interior Ministry urged Syrians Sunday not to respond to calls to protest near Damascus' Umayyad Square, shortly after a source said the country lifted its emergency law, dpa reported.
"These messages you are receiving on your phones are the work of the people who want to incite strife in Syria," state television said.
An official source told the German Press Agency dpa that the emergency law was cancelled after it has been in force in the country since 1963.
"Abolition of the emergency law requires a fair and independent judiciary, and that there would be separation between the executive, legislative and judicial powers," said Bassam Sabagh, a Syrian lawyer.
Sabagh said the law was responsible for many cases of random arrest.
President Bashar al-Assad promised to end the country's emergency rule as part of reforms declared to appease protesters after unrest spread throughout the country.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that 17 activists were released after they were detained for protesting in front of the interior ministry in Damascus on March 16.
More than 200 political prisoners were released Saturday, human rights groups said, as part of promises made by al-Assad. The moves however failed to calm protesters, who continue to call for him to step down.
Troops were deployed in Latakia on Syria's Mediterranean coast on Sunday, after violent nationwide protests that saw deadly sniper attacks and the ruling Baath party's offices in the city were torched.
The troops arrived in a convoy of trucks in the city, located some 350 kilometres north-west of the capital Damascus.
"So far calm has returned to the city and troops are seen patrolling areas that saw tension on Saturday," a witness who requested anonymity told the German Press Agency dpa.
Official media reported that 12 people were killed when gunmen targeted people from rooftops.
State television however showed only footage of people in Latakia raising victory signs and chanting slogans in support of President Bashar al-Assad.
"God bless Bashar for Syria," an elderly man was seen chanting.
Authorities arrested several foreigners and accused them of helping to incite strife in the country.
The Egyptian Mohamed Radwan, who holds US citizenship, was said to have admitted that he "had secretly visited Israel and confessed to being funded from abroad in exchange for sending photos and videos about the current events in Syria."
The Organisation of the Islamic Conference on Sunday welcomed reforms announced in Syria, and called for calm by all parties in order to "ease friction and to avoid the repercussions of the crisis."
In a telephone call with al-Assad, Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah Al- Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah reiterated his support towards Syria's government, and people and its confidence in Syria's ability to overcome this difficult condition, the Kuwaiti news agency reported.
Bashar al-Assad has been president since 2000, following the death of his father, Hafez al-Assad.
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