Syria arresterte i dag den fremste menneskerettsadvokaten i landet. Han er en i rekken av opposisjonelle som er arrestert de siste dagene. Det er tydelig at regimet føler seg ovenpå nok til å slå tilbake.

Police arrested Syria’s leading human rights lawyer and five other activists Wednesday and a government newspaper rebuked those who had signed a petition calling for an improvement in relations with Lebanon.

The lawyer, Anwar al-Bunni, was dragged away by security forces in front of his home, his family said. His brother, Akram al-Bunni, said the lawyer was heading out of his house late Wednesday to go to an English class when two men approached him and asked him to get into a car.

«Anwar asked them to show him an arrest warrant so he would go with them, but they forced him into the car, and drove away while he was shouting» for help, the brother told The Associated Press.

A day earlier, Anwar al-Bunni had publicly condemned the arrest of another rights activist.

Nine people have been detained since Sunday in what Syrian human rights groups described as the largest roundup of human rights activists in years.(ap)