Syria charges ex-MP with national security offences
DAMASCUS (AFP) — Syrian authorities charged former MP Riad Seif with a series of national security offences Tuesday, the 11th dissident to be charged over an opposition meeting last month, a human rights watchdog said.
Seif, who was detained on Monday, was charged with "harming the image of the state", "stoking ethnic and sectarian division", "disseminating false information", and "belonging to a secret organisation seeking to alter the social and economic base of the state," the National Organisation for Human Rights in Syria said.
A further 10 dissidents who attended last month's meeting of the National Council of the Damascus Declaration were charged with the same offences on Monday.
The Damascus Declaration calls for radical democratic change in the country, and has united communist, nationalist, liberal and Kurdish parties.
Last month's meeting drew together 163 activists and established a National Council charged with implementing the Damascus Declaration.
Syria responded with a wave of arrests which drew strong criticism from the United States.
President George W. Bush applauded the formation of the opposition grouping, saying "the brave men and women who formed this council reflect the desires of the majority of Syrian people to live in freedom, democracy, and peace."
During a visit to Damascus late last month US Congressman Patrick Kennedy said he had secured an undertaking from President Bashar al-Assad to release the dissidents.
But two days later the official SANA news agency cited an "official source" as denying that the issue had even been raised.
