Fallon and the Dictators………
“French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said he held "frank and direct" talks with Syria's president on the issue of human rights, days after the trial of a Syrian lawyer who championed the cause of political prisoners. France has led European moves to help Syria emerge from diplomatic isolation, though Syrian authorities have intensified arrests of politicians and others calling for democracy. "Yesterday I exchanged views with President (Bashar al-) Assad on human rights. The discussion was frank and direct," Fillon said in the Syrian capital on Saturday. "Our dialogue with the Syrian authorities ... permits us to open all the subjects on which we have different views," said Fillon, who signed economic deals and other agreements. One of the main figures in jail is Mohannad al-Hassani, a 43-year-old lawyer who was arrested in July last year and charged with "weakening national morale", the same charge he has spent his professional life campaigning against………..”
Syria is a dictatorship, has been for several decades, and a hereditary one like many other Arab states. A real police state. As has been Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and others. I hope the prime minister was as frank in his visits to other Middle East states.
Cheers
mhg
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