Top Syrian political prisoners free after term ends

Syrian authorities have released three prominent opposition figures after they completed jail terms on charges of weakening national morale, their lawyers said on Monday.

The three men were part of a group of 12 who were arrested during 2007 and jailed for two and a half years after they tried to revive the Damascus Declaration, a rights movement named after a document signed in 2005 by opposition figures. "Akram al-Bunni, Jabr al-Shoufi and Dr Ahmad Tumeh spent several days at a security branch after their jail term expired but they are now home with their families," Khalil Maatouk said. (Reuters)