Embattled Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam will this afternoon announce a formal withdrawal of the much-despised extradition bill that sparked the nearly three-month long protest crisis now roiling the city, South China Morning Post reported.

It said the decision will mean that the government is finally acceding to one of the five demands of the protesters, who have taken to the streets over the past 13 weeks to voice not just their opposition to the legislation, but the overall governance of the city in demonstrations that have become increasingly violent.

The paper quoted a government source as saying that Lam will emphasize that the removal of the bill was to streamline the legislative agenda, with the Legislative Council set to reopen in October after its summer break and hence it was a technical procedure.

Lam had earlier suspended the bill, which would have allowed for the extradition of criminals to jurisdictions with which the city lacked a treaty, including the mainland, but critics have not been satisfied.