DAMASCUS: Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad issued a general amnesty on Tuesday for army deserters and those who have avoided compulsory military service during the country’s seven-year civil war, state media said.
Tens of thousands of Syrian soldiers have deserted since the start of the war in 2011, some of them joining rebel factions and others either hiding at home or escaping abroad.
A similar number is estimated to have avoided completing compulsory military service.
The fear of being sent to the front line has kept many male Syrian refugees from returning to their home country.
On Tuesday, Assad declared “a general amnesty from any penalties for military deserters inside and outside the country,” SANA said.
Those who had been charged with deserting but who were on the run inside the country would have to hand themselves in within four months to Syrian authorities.
Charged deserters who fled outside Syria would have six months to present themselves to authorities, SANA said.
It did not specify whether defectors who then went on to fight the Syrian army were included in the pardon.
While it mentions being exempt from “penalties”, Tuesday’s decree did not specify if defectors or draft dodgers would ultimately be sent to serve. The decree includes “a general amnesty from any penalties for crimes under Law 30 for Military Service”, which governs the country’s conscription.
REBEL WITHDRAWAL
Rebels in Syria’s last major opposition stronghold have withdrawn most of their heavy weapons from a planned buffer zone ahead of a Wednesday deadline, a monitor said.
The pullback is the first major test of a deal brokered by Russia and Turkey last month to avoid what the United Nations warned would be the appalling humanitarian consequences of a major government offensive.
Under the agreement, all factions have until Wednesday to withdraw heavy weaponry from the 15- to 20-kilometre wide buffer zone, which rings Idlib province and adjacent areas of the northwest. — AFP
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