By
The Associated Press
DAMASCUS, Syria - President Bashar Assad has ordered the release of 600 political prisoners in what officials yesterday portrayed as a sign of new thinking among Syria's leadership.
The amnesty marked the 30th anniversary of the revolution that brought Assad's father, the late Hafez Assad, to power, state-run newspapers reported.
"Syria is telling its citizens that a new phase has begun, one that is characterized by forgiveness and love," parliament speaker Abdul Kader Kadoura told reporters yesterday.
Syrians, particularly the young, had looked to the 35-year-old Bashar Assad for reform after decades of autocratic rule under his father. At home, he appears to have responded, with the prisoner release following an unprecedented loosing of restrictions on debate.
Earlier this year, 99 Syrian intellectuals were able to issue a statement in Damascus appealing to the government to release all political prisoners and implement political reforms to complement the economic, administrative and legal reforms currently under way.
Assad also sent a bill to parliament Wednesday that would grant amnesty to those convicted of crimes such as military desertion, smuggling, traffic offenses and tax evasion, the papers reported yesterday. The bill excluded prisoners who had resisted the authorities with firearms.
Despite domestic changes, Assad's foreign policy has so far closely followed the hard-line set by his father. Assad left a recent Islamic conference in Qatar when Muslim countries with ties to Israel refused to cut them off.
Hafez Assad occasionally released small numbers of political prisoners. Bashar Assad released about 30 opposition members about 10 days after his inauguration in July.
The latest releases were welcomed by the rights group Amnesty International and an exiled Syrian opposition leader, Ali al-Beyanouni of the banned Muslim Brotherhood.
Al-Beyanouni, in a statement faxed from London to The Associated Press in Cairo, called on the Syrian president to follow this "positive step" with other measures. He called for the release of all political prisoners and the return of those expelled for political reasons. He also asked for the annulment of a law that makes membership in the Brotherhood punishable by death.
Syrian newspapers said the prisoners belonged to various political groups, but did not name them. It is thought that most were associated with Islamic groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood.
Assad signed the decree Wednesday night, the papers said. Detainees usually are released as soon as the relevant paperwork has been completed, which can take a day.
A spokesman for Amnesty International in London, Ala Subhi, said that by his organization's records, Syria had more than 1,000 political prisoners and detainees.
"We are calling for the immediate release of these prisoners or for them to be retried in conformity with international standards of fair trial,' Subhi said.
