Assad issues general amnesty to political prisoners
Decree issued amid mounting protests includes outlawed Muslim Brotherhood members, crimes committed prior to May 31, 2011
Syrian President Bashar Assad on Tuesday issued a decree granting a general amnesty to all political prisoners and members of the Muslim Brotherhood, whose activity is outlawed in the country, the Syrian news agency reported on Tuesday.
According to the report, amnesty was granted to "all crimes committed prior to May 31, 2011."
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Assad issued the edict amid a growing wave of protests against his 11-year rule, which were fiercely suppressed by the country's security forces, and cost the lives of more than 1,000 people.
The protesters demand that Assad, whose family controls Syria for over four decades, to cede his presidency and allow a democratic transition of power.
The amnesty has been declared hours before some 300 Syrian opposition members are set to meet at Turkey's Mediterranean coast on Tuesday for a conference aimed at overcoming their differences and bolstering protesters who have endured a bloody crackdown under President Assad.
Meanwhile, State-controlled media quoted a Syrian military official as saying army units and security forces in the town of Rastan arrested members of "armed terrorist groups who terrorized citizens and destroyed public and private property." The official said the military also confiscated a large number of arms and weapons.
The Local Coordination Committees in Syria, which helps organize and document the country's protests, said heavy gunfire was heard in Rastan, a few miles (kilometers) north of the central city of Homs.
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