Syria's Assad grants amnesty for draft dodgers, defectors: state media

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad granted a general amnesty on Saturday for those who had dodged service or defected from the army, state news agency SANA reported.

The special decree is the second amnesty in just over a year. It stipulates that defectors who fled the country have two months to hand themselves in, while those still inside Syria have one month. There were no details spelled out for draft dodgers, according to AFP.