Syrian president proclaims amnesty for dissidents

SYRIAN PRESIDENT Bashar al-Assad yesterday announced a general amnesty for crimes committed during the 10-month revolt.

State news agency Sana said the pardon covers all those who have protested peacefully, carried unlicensed weapons and evaded military conscription.

Opposition activists involved in such activities have until the end of the month to turn themselves in, but previous amnesties have been largely ignored by dissidents who do not trust the regime.

It is unclear whether this move affects those jailed during the unrest. According to UN figures there should be 10,000 detainees if the regime has released the nearly 4,000 said to have been freed since the December arrival of an Arab League mission to oversee implementation of a plan to end violence.

The amnesty, the fourth since the troubles erupted, coincided with a call by UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon to halt the crackdown on dissent.

In an address to a Beirut conference on democracy in the Arab world, Mr Ban said: “Today, I say to president Assad . . . stop the violence. Stop killing your own people. The path of repression is a dead end.”

Also stepping up pressure on Dr Assad, Qatari prime minister Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, league committee chief dealing with the Syrian crisis, said Arab troops should be deployed to halt the killing. However, an official at the league headquarters in Cairo said there has been no formal request to dispatch troops. This is unlikely, due to divisions within the league and strong opposition from Syria.

Although league chief Nabil al-Arabi said the organisation’s monitors have made “partial progress”, he admitted bloodshed continues. He added that the secretariat is assessing the effectiveness of the mission concerning an extension for a second month. Ministers are set to meet on January 21st to discuss the monitors’ report.

Meanwhile, the most senior Syrian army defector, Gen Mustafa Ahmad al-Sheikh, is set to establish an overall command structure for the so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA) comprising deserters.

The general, said to have been in charge of security in northern Syria before deserting to Turkey, said the command will oversee FSA operations and encourage defections from the regular army.