Assad frees 672 soldiers on promise ‘to be good’
HUNDREDS of prisoners were turned loose in warravaged Syria yesterday after promising not to upset “national stability”.
A total of 672 inmates were freed under what the Assad government called a “reconciliation” process.
This is usually the term applied to deals with rebels in which they agree either to disarm or move away.
Justice Minister Hisham al-shaar said the inmates were freed after they had vowed “not to do anything against the nation’s security or stability”.
Mr al-shaar said most of the prisoners were from Damascus.
It was not clear why the 672 had been jailed in the first place but Syria’s regime is accused of detaining tens of thousands without trial for political reasons.
President Bashar al-assad has said he sees the reconciliation deals as a way to reduce fighting and bring to an end the sixyear conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and made millions homeless.