Syrians demand more freedom

Nearly 300 Syrian intellectuals, engineers, lawyers and political activists have asked President Bashar Assad for comprehensive reforms to ostensibly buffer the country from American criticisms.

In a letter to the president, they asked him to implement a series of reforms.

They include the revocation of martial law and security trials, the immediate release of all political prisoners and return of exiles.

The group said Israel and the occupation of neighbouring Iraq by the United States had changed the region.

“We address you at this moment, which is unique in its dangers and challenges, as the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip by Israel and the occupation of Iraq by the United States, have changed the strategic conditions surrounding our homeland and put it between two enemies who possess strength which Syria has never faced before,” the letter said.

Sent to a special postal box set up by Assad, the letter was made available to international news agencies and newspapers. It was not published in Syria.

The letter was a bold move in a country where Assad has recently stifled a trend toward more openness following three decades of iron-fisted rule by his father, the late President Hafez Assad.

The decision to make it public could be an indication that Assad wants to reopen the door to reform.

Following his father’s death in June 2000, Assad released hundreds of political prisoners, passed laws aimed at liberalising the state-controlled economy and introduced mobile phones and the Internet to an enthusiastic populace of about 17 million.

But last year he clamped down on pro-democracy activists.

The governments put 10 activists on trial, including two MPs who were stripped of their parliamentary immunity and convicted of trying to change the constitution illegally.