Syria's President Bashar Assad speaks in Damascus in this still image taken from video June 20, 2011. Assad, facing three months of protests against his rule, said on Monday a national dialogue would start soon. [Photo/Agencies]

BEIRUT - Syria's embattled president said Monday his regime would consider political reforms, including ending his Baath Party's monopoly on power, but gave no sign he might step down, a key demand of nationwide protests.

The opposition dismissed Bashar Assad's speech, saying it lacked any clear move toward democracy. Activists said thousands of people took to the streets to protest in several cities.

Assad's 70-minute, televised address was only his third public speech since the pro-democracy uprising began in March, inspired by the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt. Much of his message was not new, including his claim that the unrest is being driven by armed thugs and foreign conspirators.

"Saboteurs" were trying to exploit legitimate demands for reform, he said.

"What is happening today has nothing to do with reform. It has to do with vandalism," Assad told supporters at Damascus University, where he stood before red, white and black Syrian flags. "There can be no development without stability, and no reform through vandalism."

But he also announced that a "national dialogue" would start soon and he was forming a committee to study constitutional amendments, including one that would open the way for formation of political parties other than the ruling Baath Party.

He said expects a package of reforms by September or the end of the year at the latest.

In Monday's speech, he warned that the country's economy will take a beating unless the unrest ends _ a message aimed at his supporters in the business community and prosperous merchant classes.

"The most dangerous thing we face in the coming period is the weakness or the collapse of the Syrian economy," he said.

"We want the people to back to reforms but we must isolate true reformers from saboteurs," he said.

International pressure on the regime has been mounting steadily and nearly 11,000 people have fled into neighboring Turkey in an embarrassing spectacle for one of the most tightly controlled countries in the Middle East.

Assad urged the refugees to return home, saying there will be no retaliation against them.