Syria's state news agency SANA said the move followed a meeting between Assad and "religious and popular (figures)."
Human rights activists say scores of people have been rounded up since the demonstrations started, particularly in the protest centers of Daraa, south of the capital, Latakia and Banias on the Mediterranean coast.
Assad named a new Cabinet on Thursday after a month of pro-democracy protests. Recently appointed Prime Minister Adel Safar formed the new government. Mohammed Naji Otri, who had been in office since 2003, resigned on March 29 and Safar, the then agricultural minister, was named on April 3 to replace him.
The government has little power in Syria, where the executive and judiciary have been sidelined under 48 years of Baath party rule. Power is held firmly by the Assad family and the security apparatus.
Lebanese border police meanwhile detained two people trying to drive cars filled with weapons into Syria, security sources said Thursday. "The cars had AK-47s, semi-automatic weapons, and some bombs," one security source said. The men, a Lebanese and a Syrian, were detained late Wednesday in the border area of the eastern Bekaa Valley.
Syrian authorities have blamed "armed groups" and "infiltrators" for provoking the unrest. Syria's ambassador to Beirut urged Lebanese authorities on Thursday to take legal action following allegations a deputy was funding and arming protesters in Syria.
Ali Abdel Karim Ali "requested Lebanon's authorities and judiciary to take action ... in order to preserve brotherly ties between the two countries," according to the transcript of an interview with Hezbollah's Intiqad website.
Ali's comments came a day after Syrian state-run television aired "testimonies" of three people saying they had received funds and weapons from a Lebanese lawmaker to fuel a wave of protests against the ruling Baath regime.
Anas Kanj, who presented himself as the head of an "armed terrorist group," said on camera that he received money and arms from MP Jamal Al-Jarrah through an intermediary, Ahmad Oudeh. Al-Jarrah has denied the allegation.
