AMMAN (Reuters) – The Syrian authorities’ arrest of a leftist opposition figure overnight suggests that a bill passed by the government to end emergency rule after 48 years will not halt repression, rights campaigners said today.
The draft law was passed yesterday as a concession by President Bashar al-Assad in the face of increasingly determined mass protests against his authoritarian rule. More than 200 people have been killed, rights groups say.
The end of emergency rule was, however, coupled with new legislation requiring Syrians to obtain a permit from the state if they want to
