Writer jailed for criticizing policy

A Syrian court sentenced prominent political writer Michel Kilo to three years in jail on charges of “weakening national feelings,” stemming from his criticism of government policy toward Lebanon.

Witnesses said the same sentence was handed to Mahmoud Issa, a political activist who also signed last year’s Damascus-Beirut Declaration criticizing Syrian policy toward Lebanon.

Syria’s Baathist government has tolerated little dissent over its Lebanon policy since it withdrew its troops from Lebanon in 2005, after the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.