* Diesel price cut by 25 percent per litre
* Committees set up study reforms, media law
* Moves come in face of sustained pro-democracy unrest
AMMAN, May 25 (Reuters) - Syria's cabinet has cut the price of diesel by a quarter and set up committees to study economic reform and a new media law, the state news agency said on Wednesday, two months into a wave of popular unrest.
The cabinet meeting on Tuesday reduced the cost of a litre of diesel to 15 pounds (31 U.S. cents) from 20 pounds "in response to citizens' demands and economic and social considerations", the agency said.
Syria has been wracked by demonstrations against President Bashar al-Assad's authoritarian rule. Protests have focused mainly on demands for political freedoms but economic hardship and rising costs of living have also fuelled discontent.
The official news agency quoted Economy and Trade Minister Mohammad al-Shaar as saying the decision to cut diesel prices would take effect immediately, trimming production and transport costs and improving economic efficiency.
It did not specify what changes might be brought by a new media law.
Rights groups say security forces have killed around 1,000 civilians in the unrest that broke out in mid-March. Surian authorities, who blame the violence on armed groups, say at least 120 soldiers and police have been killed.
Alongside the violent repression of protests, Assad has lifted 48 years of emergency law, promised citizenship to stateless Kurds, and made other reform pledges. Civic activists opposition figures say no changes have taken place on the ground to change the nature of Syria as a police state.
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