|
 "The ceasefire has been extended for an additional three days,
starting from today, to allow the evacuation of the remaining
civilians," Talal al-Barazi, the governor, said by telephone. He added that a total of 1,400 people had been evacuated from the
besieged Old City since last Friday, when the U.N.-brokered
ceasefire began. Of those, 220 were still undergoing background
checks, he said, meaning they were being detained for questioning. While women and children have been free to leave, males aged between
15 and 55 are deemed of fighting age by the Syrian authorities and
are being vetted by the security forces. Barazi said 70 people had
been cleared for release on Thursday.
 In a statement late on Wednesday, a U.S. State Department spokesman
said the government had pledged to release men after they had been
screened. "We expect them to keep that pledge," Edgar Vasquez, the
spokesman, said.
[to top of second column] |
"Given the regime's past actions, the international community cannot
take this for granted and needs to monitor the fate of these men,"
he added. "The regime continues to hold a large number of detainees
in terrible conditions."
(Reporting by Laila Bassam in Beirut and Stephanie Nebehay in
Geneva; writing by Tom Perry; editing by Jon Boyle)
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