International News

DAMASCUS, (APP/AFP): Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad on Thursday offered an amnesty to armed rebels battling
his forces if they surrender, the official SANA news agency
reported.
“Everyone carrying arms… and sought by justice… is
excluded from full punishment if they hand themselves in and
lay down their weapons,” SANA said, quoting a presidential
decree on the three-month amnesty offer.
The reprieve also includes any rebel who frees a hostage,
according to the decree text.
The offer comes as opposition neighbourhoods of Aleppo
city are effectively surrounded by pro-government forces, sparking
fears for the more than 200,000 people trapped there.
Assad’s ally Russia said Thursday it had launched a
“large-scale” operation with the Syrian government to open
humanitarian corridors for civilians and fighters fleeing
the northern city.
Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told Russian news agencies
that three humanitarian corridors were being opened “to aid
civilians held hostage by terrorists and for fighters wishing to
lay down their arms” and one more corridor to the north of the
city for rebels to flee with their weapons.
Assad has issued several amnesties in recent years,
including one in July 2015 for people who have dodged service
or defected from the army.