Nearly 2,000 Syrian soldiers return from Iraq under a new amnesty program

Nearly 2,000 former Syrian army soldiers who fled to Iraq have returned to Syria under an amnesty program, Iraq’s security forces said.

The Iraqi government has close ties with neighboring Iran, which was a primary backer of ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad. Baghdad is seeking to build ties with the new Syrian government, after jihadi-led rebels overthrew Assad last week.

On Thursday, more than 1,900 Syrian army personnel crossed back into Syria via the Qaim border crossing, and an additional 36 soldiers had through the Abu Kamal crossing the previous day.

These returns followed the soldiers' written pledges to abide by the amnesty issued by Syria’s current authorities, which grants clemency to former military personnel and transfers them to designated centers, according to a statement from the Security Media Cell, affiliated with Iraq’s security forces.

The statement also noted that weapons previously held by the Syrian army remain under the Iraqi Ministry of Defense’s custody and will be transferred to Syria’s new government once it is established.

More than 4,000 former Syrian army soldiers had fled into Iraq in the wake of Assad's overthrow, according to a local militia official in western Iraq.