Prisoners freed as observers visit Syria revolt city
Source: Agencies |
December 29, 2011, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE Syrian government yesterday released 755 prisoners detained over the past nine months in its crackdown on dissent, as observers toured a flashpoint city to see whether authorities were complying with an Arab plan to stop the bloodshed that the UN said has killed thousands.
State-run news agency SANA said the released prisoners did not include those with "blood on their hands."
Last month, Syrian authorities released 2,645 prisoners in three batches, but activists and critics say thousands more who were picked up in the past months remain in jail.
The Arab observers began their one-month mission in the violence-wracked country with a visit on Tuesday to Homs, the city at the heart of the anti-government uprising.
An official in Homs said four observers were still there on Wednesday. Syrian TV said observers saw trouble spots in Homs and met residents.
The team of about 60 Arab League monitors arrived in Syria on Monday night - the first foreign observers allowed in since March, when the uprising against President Bashar Assad's authoritarian rule began.
On Tuesday, tens of thousands of defiant Syrian protesters thronged the streets after authorities withdrew tanks from Homs, in the first sign the government was complying with the League's plan to end the 9-month-old crackdown against dissent.
Since agreeing to the League's pullback plan on December 19, troops have killed hundreds.
The UN says more than 5,000 people have been killed since March in violence across Syria.
State-run news agency SANA said the released prisoners did not include those with "blood on their hands."
Last month, Syrian authorities released 2,645 prisoners in three batches, but activists and critics say thousands more who were picked up in the past months remain in jail.
The Arab observers began their one-month mission in the violence-wracked country with a visit on Tuesday to Homs, the city at the heart of the anti-government uprising.
An official in Homs said four observers were still there on Wednesday. Syrian TV said observers saw trouble spots in Homs and met residents.
The team of about 60 Arab League monitors arrived in Syria on Monday night - the first foreign observers allowed in since March, when the uprising against President Bashar Assad's authoritarian rule began.
On Tuesday, tens of thousands of defiant Syrian protesters thronged the streets after authorities withdrew tanks from Homs, in the first sign the government was complying with the League's plan to end the 9-month-old crackdown against dissent.
Since agreeing to the League's pullback plan on December 19, troops have killed hundreds.
The UN says more than 5,000 people have been killed since March in violence across Syria.
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