Syria’s state-run TV says authorities have released 552 prisoners who were involved in anti-regime activities during the nine-month uprising against President Bashar Assad.
It is the second group of prisoners to be released in a week under an Arab League plan meant to stop the government’s crackdown on dissent, which has claimed thousands of lives. Besides halting the violence, the plan calls for the release of all political prisoners. About 3,500 were freed on Tuesday.
Following Thursday’s TV report, activists said Syria was still holding at least 25,000 political detainees.
The Arab plan so far has failed to stop the violence. Activists have reported several hundred deaths even while a team of Arab League monitors is on the ground in Syria in an attempt to ensure the regime’s compliance.
