Intel: Pompeo calls on Syria to release US prisoners amid coronavirus fears

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo today urged President Bashar al-Assad to release all “arbitrarily detained” Syrians and US citizens amid fears that the coronavirus pandemic is primed to rapidly take hold and spread throughout the war-torn country.

“We have asked the Syrians to release all those who are wrongfully detained — not only Americans, but others as well,” Pompeo told a small group of reporters. “We’re calling on the Islamic Republic of Iran to do the same at this time, where there is enormous health risk to these individuals, on a purely humanitarian basis.”