Release detainees in goodwill measure, UK urges Assad

LONDON

Britain on Sunday called on the Assad regime to release thousands of people detained during the Syrian civil war as a sign of its commitment to peace talks.

In a video posted on social media, the British government said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s security forces have been holding thousands of people without trial since hostilities broke out in 2011.

The text captions, interspersed with footage of prison cells provided by Syrian opposition forces, read: “Since 2011 Assad’s security forces have abducted and detained tens of thousands of men, women, and children without trial. Many have never been seen again."

“The release of detainees by the Assad regime would prove a genuine commitment to peace talks and ending the suffering of the Syrian people."

The video was published on the UKagainstDaesh account, which is used by the British government to provide news and updates on the global coalition’s efforts to defeat Daesh in northern Syria and Iraq.

The latest round of Syria peace talks in Geneva are scheduled for March 9, weeks after the last effort to negotiate a political transition in the country ended without meaningful progress.