阿盟觀察員訪問敘利亞抗議熱點城市
Arab League observers are visiting three flashpoint cities in Syria on Wednesday as the government announced the release of hundreds of prisoners.
A day after touring the restive Homs region, mission leader Sudanese General Mohammed Dabi said observers plan to travel to Hama, Idlib and Daraa. The regions have been hotspots for protests against the government of President Bashar al-Assad during a continuing crackdown.
Dabi says observers did not see "anything frightening" during their Tuesday visit to Homs. He said the city was "quiet" and there were no clashes.
The comments came despite activists' reports Tuesday that Syrian forces fired tear gas and live ammunition at thousands of demonstrators in Homs. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says six people were killed there and 15 protest-related deaths were reported nationwide.
On Wednesday, activists said that some Homs residents refused to meet with observers because they were accompanied by a Syrian army officer.
Meanwhile, a human rights group accused Syria of transferring prisoners to military facilities in order to hide them from the observers. Syrian state media said Wednesday the government released 755 prisoners.
But Human Rights Watch says hundreds of inmates were transferred shortly before the arrival of the observers, who are monitoring government pledges to halt a violent crackdown and release political dissidents.阿拉伯國家聯盟的觀察員星期三訪問敘利亞的抗議多發城市，同時敘利亞政府宣佈釋放數百名囚犯。一天前，這些觀察員巡視了動盪的霍姆斯地區。該代表團團長達比將軍說，他們計劃巡視霍姆斯、伊德利卜和德拉。這些地區一直是反政府抗議的焦點。阿薩德總統在繼續鎮壓抗議。
達比將軍說，觀察員們星期二巡視霍姆斯的時候沒有看到任何令人驚恐不安的事情。他說，霍姆斯很安靜，沒有衝突發生。
儘管活動人士星期二報告說，敘利亞軍隊在霍姆斯向數千名示威者發射催淚彈和實彈，達比還是作出上述評論。
敘利亞人權觀察說，星期二，敘利亞軍隊在霍姆斯打死六人，全國有15人死於跟抗議有關的衝突。
星期三，活動人士稱，一些霍姆斯居民拒絕會晤觀察員，因爲觀察員有一名敘利亞軍官陪同。
同時，一個人權組織指責敘利亞把囚犯轉移出軍事設施，以便不讓觀察員看到他們。敘利亞國營媒體星期三稱，政府釋放了755名囚犯。
但是人權觀察表示，觀察員抵達前幾個小時，數百名囚犯被轉移。觀察員在監督政府是否按照承諾停止暴力鎮壓並釋放政治犯。
