A total of 5,255 people have been released so far since the latest amnesty declared by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a state-run daily reported Sunday.

Al-Assad declared last week an amnesty for all crimes committed during the Syrian unrest since in mid March.

The amnesty involves those who have peacefully demonstrated, those who have carried and possessed unlicensed weapons and ammunition, in addition to those who would hand over their unlicensed weapons to the government before the end of this month.

It also applies to army deserters who fled the military service, if they turn themselves in to the authorities before Jan 31.

Syria has released some 9,207 prisoners through several amnesties since mid March.

Releasing those who were arrested during the unrest has topped the protesters' demands and is part of a deal concluded lately between the Syrian government and an Arab League (AL) ministerial committee to bring the Syrian crisis to a close.

The AL ministerial committee on Syria is due to convene Sunday to review the latest report submitted by the AL observer delegation, which started its mission in Syria on Dec. 27 to monitor the country's unrest on the ground.

Meanwhile, a spokeswoman of the opposition Syrian National Council said the group has formally requested the AL to refer the Syrian issue to the United Nations Security Council.

As the AL observer mission has failed to halt the bloodshed in Syria, referring the case to the UN Security Council would change the situation, the spokeswoman said.

AL Deputy Secretary General Ahmed Ben Helli said that a meeting of the Arab foreign ministers is to make a decision based on the observers' report and would probably expand the monitoring mission in Syria.

The Syrian government has blamed the months-long unrest on terrorists and foreign-backed armed gangs.

Damascus said some 2,000 army and security personnel have been killed since the unrest began, while the UN has reported more than 5,000 deaths from violence in the country.