British Foreign Secretary William Hague welcomed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s call Saturday for emergency law to be lifted, saying reforms were "necessary and urgent."

British Foreign Secretary William Hague welcomed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s call Saturday for emergency law to be lifted, saying reforms were "necessary and urgent."

"I welcome Assad's acknowledgement in his speech today that reform in Syria is necessary and urgent to address the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people," Hague said in a statement.

"We call on the Syrian government to lift the state of emergency next week as proposed by President Assad and to ensure that those responsible for the deaths of civilians are held to account."

As the new Syrian government was sworn in on Saturday, President Bashar Assad declared that the emergency law in force since 1963 will be abolished within a week.

While noting that Syria is passing through a delicate phase and conspiracy is always there, Assad highlighted that his country was facing big challenge. “The government can’t make any progress without the public support,” he emphasized.

He also expressed sorrow over the deaths in Syria since violence erupted. "We are sad for all the people we have lost and all the people injured, and consider them all martyrs," he said.