A key speech by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday lacked real substance and failed to mention the kind of reforms his people are demanding, the US said.

Washington said the speech lacked substance, and two senior US lawmakers urged President Barack Obama to get behind the opposition to Mr Assad.

Amnesty International said Assad had “missed a crucial opportunity” to lift the emergency laws.

Pinning the blame on a foreign “conspiracy” was a “dangerous diversion” said Philip Luther, Amnesty’s Middle East and North Africa deputy director.

Nadim Houry, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, described the speech as “extremely disappointing.”

“President Assad simply repeated the same vague promises of reform that he’s been uttering for over a decade,” Mr Houry said.

US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Mr Assad’s speech “fell short.”

“It’s clear to us that it didn’t have much substance to it,” Toner said, adding he thought the Syrian people would be disappointed.

Republican Senator John McCain and Independent Senator Joe Lieberman said Obama’s effort to engage rather than shun Damascus had “little to show for it.”

Now it was time to back protesters against Mr Assad’s rule, they said.

Syrian human rights activists have accused security forces of killing 130 people in their crackdown on the two weeks of protests. Officials put the toll at some 30 dead.

It is a period of unprecedented domestic pressure for Mr Assad, who succeeded his father Hafez in 2000.

In a bid to quell weeks of protests against his iron-clad rule, Mr Assad earlier gave a rare address in parliament.

He blamed “enemies” and conspirators for the deadly unrest but declined to elaborate on promised reforms and made no mention of the hoped-for lifting of a decades-old state of emergency.

“Ultimately it’s going to be the Syrian people, the ones who judge what they’ve heard today and whether or not President Assad demonstrated positive movement forward in meeting their aspirations,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner told journalists in Washington.

“But we expect they’re going to be disappointed. We feel the speech fell short with respect to the kind of reforms the Syrian people demanded and President Assad’s advisor suggested was coming.

“It’s clear to us that it didn’t really have much substance to it and didn’t talk about specific reforms,” Toner said, adding: “We would strongly condemn any violence against the protesters.”

Mr Assad, who succeeded his father Hafez in 2000, has come under unprecedented domestic pressure over the past two weeks, with protesters defying emergency rule in public protests demanding more freedoms, emboldened by the wave of protest that has rocked the Arab world since December.

The demonstrations, which began on March 15, were quickly contained in Damascus, but took root in the tribal region of Daraa, south of the capital, and in the confessionally divided city of Latakia on the Mediterranean coast.

Gunfire could be heard in the port city following Assad’s speech.

But it is Daraa that has sustained the most casualties, with activists estimating that at least 100 people had been killed in just one day of clashes last week with security forces.

Syrian human rights activists have accused security forces of killing 130 people in the crackdown. Amnesty International says upward of 55 people have been killed. Officials put the toll at some 30 dead.

Meanwhile protesters called for rallies across Syria after weekly Muslim prayers yesterday, upping the pressure on President Bashar al-Assad after he dashed hopes of an end to decades of emergency rule.

“Our date is Friday, from all houses, all places of worship, every citizen and every free man, to all squares, for a free Syria,” said a statement posted on Thursday on Facebook group The Syria Revolution 2011.

“We want a civil, free, noble state that is with the times and respects our heritage,” added the group, which has been a driving force behind protests which erupted on March 15 and have been focused in Daraa, south of the capital, and in the confessionally divided city of Latakia on the Mediterranean coast.

In his first speech since the protests erupted, Assad told Parliament on Wednesday that Syria’s “enemies” were targeting its unity and blamed conspirators for the unrest.

The president warned Syria was going through a “test of unity”. Its foes had taken advantage of the needs of the people to incite division, he said.

“This conspiracy is different in shape and timing from what is going on in the Arab world,” he said. “Syria is not isolated from the region... but we are not a copy of other countries.”

Mr Assad, who appeared relaxed and exchanged jokes with parliamentarians, echoed that statement on Wednesday, saying talks were underway on new laws on the media and political pluralism.

“The emergency law and political parties law have been under study for a year.

“There are more, unannounced reforms... but giving a timeframe is a logistic matter. When we announce it in such circumstances, it is difficult to meet that deadline.”

Syria’s emergency laws authorise the arrest and interrogation of any individual and restrict gatherings and movement.

While Assad was hailed by parliamentarians, who interrupted his hour-long address with applause more than 40 times, rights groups expressed disappointment that he had failed to lift the 48-year-old emergency rule.