Syrian President Hafez al-Assad died on
Saturday in Damascus, state television said.
He was 69.
A political source told Reuters that Assad's
son Bashar would succeed him.
The source said the veteran leader had died
at 0800 GMT. There was no immediate word on the
cause but Assad had suffered from heart problems
and diabetes.
Assad's death occurred at a critical stage in
the Middle East peace process and only a week
before the opening of a key conference of the
ruling Baath party that had been expected to
elect his son as a member of the party's
regional command.
It had also been expected that Bashar would
be named vice-president.
Parliament held a special session to announce
the president's death and decided to form a
committee to amend the constitution to pave the
way for Bashar's appointment as president.
The committee began meeting immediately and
the parliament speaker said it would report to
parliament within half an hour.
Members of parliament were seen openly
weeping and gesticulating.