By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Syrian President Bashar Assad granted an amnesty to 190 political prisoners Wednesday to mark the Muslim feast of Eid al-Fitr, the official Syrian Arab News Agency reported.
The agency said the amnesty aimed to consolidate national unity and that similar measures would follow.
Those covered by the amnesty include Mohammad Raadoun, head of the Arab Organization for Human Rights who was arrested in May, and pro-democracy activist Ali Abdullah, also jailed in May for reading a statement issued by the banned Muslim Brotherhood.
It was unclear who the remaining prisoners were.
Human rights activists say more than 2,500 political prisoners are detained in Syria.