Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Tuesday decreed a general amnesty for political prisoners in a move swiftly dismissed by the opposition as "too little too late," as another three people were killed in a brutal crackdown on dissent.
"President Assad has by decree issued an amnesty on all (political) crimes committed before May 31, 2011," the official SANA news agency reported.
"The amnesty applies to all political prisoners as well as to the Muslim Brotherhood."
The announcement, which comes after two months of deadly anti-regime protests, was shrugged off by Syrian opposition activists gathered in Turkey to discuss democratic change and voice support for the revolt.
"This measure is insufficient: we demanded this amnesty several years ago, but it's late in coming," said Abdel Razak Eid, an activist from the "Damascus Declaration," a reformist group launched in 2005 to demand democratic change.
"We are united under the slogan: the people want the fall of the regime and all those who have committed crimes brought to account. Blood will not have been spilled in vain," he said.
The head of the Muslim Brotherhood delegation at the Antalya meeting, Melhem al-Durubi, similarly dismissed the amnesty announcement.
"The Brotherhood joins with the Syrian people in calling for the fall of the regime," he said.
CENTRAL DEMAND
The release of political prisoners has been a central demand of protesters who, inspired by uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, have since March 15 been staging almost daily demonstrations against Assad's autocratic government
More than 1,100 civilians have been killed and at least 10,000 arrested in a brutal crackdown by the regime on the protests, human rights organisations say.
Abdul Karim Rihawi, head of the Syrian Human Rights League, welcomed the amnesty, saying it was a "demand we have been making for years."
Rihawi urged the government to "take further steps to boost respect for human rights" in Syria.
He also demanded the abolition of decree 49, which makes membership of the Muslim Brotherhood a crime punishable by death, although sentences are usually commuted to long prison terms.
Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said "all measures taken on the path to freedom are positive."
"If this includes prisoners of conscience and the Muslim Brotherhood, this measure is a step in the right direction,' he said by telephone from London.
NATIONAL DIALOGUE COMMUTTEE
The announcement of the amnesty came soon after a senior official in Syria's ruling Baath party reportedly said that a committee for national dialogue in the troubled country would be set up within 48 hours.
Al-Watan daily, which is close to the government, quoted party number two Mohammed Said Bkhetan as telling a Baath party meeting that the committee's members would be wide-ranging.
"The committee for dialogue is composed of all political currents, and people from political and economic life and society in general will take part," it quoted him as saying.
The opposition has previously dismissed calls for dialogue, saying that this can take place once only the violence ends, political prisoners are freed and reforms adopted.
The government insists the unrest is the work of "armed terrorist gangs" backed by Islamists and foreign agitators.
The authorities initially responded to the revolt by offering some concessions, including lifting the state of emergency in place for nearly five decades, but coupled this with a fierce crackdown.
A rights activist meanwhile said three civilians were shot dead on Tuesday by Syrian security forces at Rastan in the centre of the country and in the southern region of Daraa.
"Ibrahim Salhum was killed today at Rastan" near the city of Homs, as the military attempted to quell anti-regime protest there for the third straight day, the activist said.
He added that at Hirak, a town in the flashpoint southern province of Daraa, two people were shot dead overnight and at dawn as "security forces entered Hirak and carried out search operations."
Another rights activist earlier Tuesday said that machine-gun fire reverberated around Rastan as military operations continued for a third straight day.
He said that residents of the town had attacked a police station and seized weapons near the place where a girl, identified as Hajar al-Khatib, and 10 other civilians were killed on Sunday.
Foreign journalists are barred from travelling around Syria, making it difficult to report on the unrest and verify witness accounts.
Syria has come under increasing pressure internationally to end its crackdown and allow peaceful demonstrations.
European nations are pressing a campaign to get the Security Council to warn Damascus that its actions against demonstrators could constitute crimes against humanity.
United Nations rights chief Navi Pillay on Monday said the crackdown was shocking in its disregard for human rights.
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