US urges Syria to allow dissident to travel abroad

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

WASHINGTON, Aug 15 (Reuters) The United States demanded today that Syria allow dissident and former member of parliament Riad Seif to travel abroad for medical treatment.

Seif was one of five Syrian dissidents who were released from prison in January 2006 after serving about four years for having violated the constitution.

Activists said he and others were targeted for their calls for reform during a period known as the ''Damascus Spring'' when the Syrian authorities tolerated dissent following the death of former President Hafez al-Assad in 2000.

The State Department did not say why Seif needed treatment.

Human rights group Amnesty International wrote in 2005, when he was still in prison, that he needed heart surgery.

''We call on the Syrian government to allow former member of parliament and prisoner of conscience Riad Seif to travel outside the country to receive urgent medical treatment,'' State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in a statement.

Reuters SZ VP0325

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