Syrian president issues amnesty

01 June, 2011 11:34

shiitenews_Syrian_president_issues_amnesty The Syrian president has issued a general amnesty aimed at calming 10 weeks of protests against his rule and a deadly military crackdown that has rocked the nation.

Syrian state-run media made the announcement on Tuesday, saying that “President [Bashar] Assad has by decree issued an amnesty on all [political] crimes committed before May 31, 2011.”

The amnesty is to include all members of political movements, including the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood and all political prisoners, the report said.

Membership in the Brotherhood, which led an armed rebellion against Assad’s father in 1982, had been punishable by death in Syria.

Syria has blamed the violence in the country on armed groups, Islamists and foreign agitators, saying more than 120 police and soldiers have been killed in the unrest.