At the same time, Assad stressed he supports any political dialogue, even if it has a minimal impact on the resolution of the crisis.
Advertisement
BEIRUT Syrian President Bashar al-Assad issued a decree announcing a general amnesty for military deserters who violated the country’s compulsory military conscription law, state television said on Saturday. “Everything is available, but there is a shortfall in human capacity”, he said.
“There were areas where we wanted to show our commitment”, he said.
Meanwhile, Assad justified why his army had given up on some territories. “Concern for our soldiers forces us to let go of some areas”. He added: “Every inch of Syria is precious”.
It does not include people who joined rebels in the civil war. Hundreds of thousands are also in neighboring countries such as Jordan and Egypt. Assad spoke shortly after Turkey entered the war on the Islamic State with air strikes over northern Syria and a Syrian army which is seriously overstretched.
However, the Turkish government has been accused over the past several years of turning a blind eye to the expansion of the extremist group south of its borders as an indirect plan for supporting insurgency against the Syrian government. The U.S. has begun training some moderate rebels who oppose Assad, but the civil war has seen Islamic extremist groups become the most effective on the ground.
Advertisement
In recent weeks, the Lebanese Shi’ite group Hezbollah has also played a more visible role in fighting radical Syrian insurgents in the battle for Qalamoun and nearby Syrian city of Zabadani, located in a mountainous region bordering Lebanon and close to the Syrian capital.
