neel:

President Bashar al-Asad's government launched a crackdown on peaceful but outspoken advocates of reform in August, sending a clear message that it would tolerate a political opening only on its own terms and according to its own timetable. Authorities arrested leading critics and others active in the freewheeling discussion groups, or civil society forums, that emerged as Syrians sought to claim freedoms that had been denied them during the thirty-year rule of former president Hafez al-Asad. The arrests reversed a trend toward greater openness in a country long dominated by the ruling Arab Ba'th Socialist Party and institutions it controls, and followed earlier positive developments.
Found at the World Report 2002

Yep, I'm sure they are right bloody sweethearts.......