DAMASCUS, Syria - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that "enemies are working systematically to undermine the country's stability", in his first address to the nation on Wednesday since the demonstrations erupted nearly two weeks ago.

"We confess their smartness in choosing the manners and time, but also we confess their stupidity in choosing the country," Assad said.

Syria is facing a "big conspiracy" and is ready to launch reforms to meet people's demands, he added.

The unprecedented protests in the country are a "test for the nation", Assad said.

The president's remarks come in the wake of unprecedented anti-government protests that erupted in various parts of the country, particularly the southern town of Daraa.

The Syrian authorities have accused "armed groups supported by foreign powers" of seeking to incite sectarian strife in the country, denouncing international news agencies' reports for "exaggeration and unprofessionalism" on the coverage of recent events.

The government mobilized hundreds of thousands of supporters to take to the streets in rallies in the capital and elsewhere on Tuesday, in an effort to show it has wide popular backing.

The coming days will be key to determining whether Assad's concessions will quiet the protest movement, which started after security forces arrested several teenagers who scrawled anti-government graffiti on a wall in Daraa.

The protests then spread to other provinces, and the government launched a swift crackdown, killing more than 60 people since March 18, according to Human Rights Watch. The violence has eased in the past few days and some predict the demonstrations might die out if the president's promises appear genuine.

However, small protests in various cities have continued, in addition to a sit-in demonstration in the restive Daraa.

Videos posted on YouTube showed an anti-government demonstration in the town of Douma, and another in the southern town of Inkhil on Tuesday, but the videos could not be independently verified.

Since the protests erupted on March 18, thousands of Syrians appear to have broken through a barrier of fear in this tightly controlled nation of 23 million.

"Syria stands at a crossroads," Aktham Nuaisse, a leading human rights activist, said on Tuesday. "Either the president takes immediate, drastic reform measures, or the country descends into one of several ugly scenarios. If he is willing to lead Syria into a real democratic transformation, he will be met halfway by the Syrian people."

Assad, who inherited power 11 years ago from his father, appears to be following the playbook of other leaders in the region who scrambled to put down popular uprisings by using both concessions and crackdowns.

The unrest in Syria, a strategically important country, could have implications well beyond its borders, given its role as Iran's top Arab ally and as a front line state against Israel.

Syria has long been viewed by the US as a potentially destabilizing force in the Middle East. An ally of Iran and Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon, it has also provided a home for some radical Palestinian groups.

In London, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called on Tuesday on the Syrian government and Assad to prove they can "be responsive to the needs" of their own people.

In January, Assad, a 45-year-old British-trained eye doctor, said his country was immune to the kind of unrest roiling the Middle East because he is in tune with his people's needs.

So far, few in Syria have publicly called on Assad to step down. Most are calling for reforms, annulling emergency laws and other stringent security measures and an end to corruption.

Xinhua-AP