Damascus releases 92 political prisoners
Syria, Politics, 2/2/2004

The Syrian authorities on Saturday released 92 political prisoners. A matter which raises the number of released prisoners since last Thursday to 122 persons.

The Syrian lawyer and human rights activist, Anwar al-Bunni, said that most of those prisoners belong to the Ikhwan al-Muslimin ( Muslim Brothers) group, or the Hizbul Tahirir al-Islami ( Islamic liberation party), or the Baath party of Iraq, and that among them persons who completed their imprisonment sentence and others who are sick.

Al-Bunni indicated the release of Fares Murad ( 50 year old) after he had spent 29 years in prison because he belongs to the Arab Communist Organization, while one of his colleagues, Imad Sheiha, who was also detained since 1975 was not released. Al-Bunni stressed that also among the released are 12 Palestinians who belong to the Democratic Front, the PLO and the Palestinian Liberation Front.

Among the released Palestinians are Mustafa Khalil, leader of the armed struggle in the Fatah movement in Lebanon, and three officers from the Islamic trend who carried out a coupe attempt under the rule of the late President Hafez al-Assad in 1981. They are lt. Gen. Teiser Lutfi,Maj. Gen. Nazir al-Saqqa and Lt. Muhammad Bashar al-Ashe. Haji Muhammad from the Kurdih Labor party was also released after 15 years of detention.

Worthy mentioning that the Syrian President Bashar Asaad has released 722 political prisoners since he assumed power in Syria in June 2000.

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