Syria is to release 912 prisoners involved in unrest 'who do not have blood on their hands', the State News Agency said.
More details to come.
United Arab Emirates
Abu Dhabi: The United Arab Emirates still hopes Syria will accept Arab observers to protect civilians during a government crackdown on protests, so that it can avoid sanctions ordered by the Arab League, UAE Foreign Minister Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahayan said on Wednesday.
Rebels battle Syrian forces in south: rights group
Armed rebels fighting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad clashed Wednesday with security forces in the flashpoint southern province of Daraa, a rights group reported.
"Violent clashes erupted between security forces and groups of (army) deserters" in the provincial protest hub of Dael, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a statement received in Nicosia.
Electricity and telephone lines had been cut off in the area, said the statement which quoted a witness as saying the clashes were triggered by the arrival in the town by at least 30 armoured personnel carriers.
At least two government vehicles were destroyed in the fighting, according to the witness cited by the Britain-based Observatory.
Turkey freezes Syria's assets
Ankara: Turkey says it is freezing the assets of the Syrian regime along with other economic sanctions.
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu says Turkey is also severing links with Syria's Central Bank and shelving strategic cooperation aimed at boosting ties with Damascus. He announced the sanctions during a news conference on Wednesday.
Davutoglu says Syrian regime "has come to the end of the road," by ignoring calls from the international community to stop its bloody crackdown on protesters.
The United Nations says at least 3,500 people have been killed in President Bashar Assad's crackdown.
