Syria arrests dissidents after democracy meeting

Syrian authorities have arrested six dissidents who attended a meeting to revive calls for democratic reform, human rights activists said on Monday. Security forces detained for questioning about 30 political activists who met this month at the house of opposition figure Riad Seif, but kept the six in jail, they said.

The meeting aimed at giving new impetus to the Damascus Declaration. Signed by liberal parties in 2005, the declaration demanded a democratic constitution and the lifting of emergency law and restrictions on public freedoms. (Reuters)