REPORT: Syria's Assad offers kidnappers amnesty deal

                   
Fierce clashes broke out on Tuesday on the outskirts of Damascus, claiming the lives of a family of four, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.        

In this context, the Observatory reported that violent clashes flared between gunmen and the Syrian Army in in the Barzeh district of Damascus, adding that 3 persons died and more than 20 were left wounded after missiles were launched on the neighborhood of al-Hajar al-Aswad, South Damascus.        

In this regard, the Observatory also reported that violent wrangling took place in the vicinity of Zamalka, while some areas in South Douma were heavily shelled by the Syrian regime.       

March was the bloodiest month yet in Syria's two-year conflict, with more than 6,000 people killed, a third of them civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday.        

The Britain-based Observatory, which has a network of sources across Syria, has documented 62,554 dead in the conflict, said Rami Abdelrahman, the head of the group.  

On another note, the state news agency SANA reported that President Bashar Assad offered an amnesty deal to kidnappers in Syria granting them 15 days to hand over victims or face a life of hard labor.          
Separately, gunmen kidnapped eight men from Syria's Alawite minority as they crossed into northern Lebanon on Monday, residents and security sources said, in a bid to gain the release of a Sunni Muslim man believed to be held by Syrian forces.                       

The Lebanese-Syrian border has grown increasingly tense with battles raging close to the frontier. Syrian forces have threatened to increase shelling on Lebanon's border areas due to the presence of rebel groups there.              


LBCI/REUTERS    


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