Jailed Syrian dissident prods Bush on Palestine, Iraq

[leftchick]

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Speaking to AFP by telephone from Adra prison northeast of Damascus, Kilo said he hoped that Bush would go beyond just calling -- as he did in a statement on December 13 -- for the release of political detainees in Syria.

"I would hope that he announces a timetable for a withdrawal (of US military forces) from Iraq and that he promises to work seriously for the building of a Palestinian state," he said.

He added that Bush should also commit himself to forcing an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights and from Lebanese territory that remains under occupation.

"If the American president were to act in such a way, it would do much to serve democracy and human rights, while seriously hampering the ability of corrupt and despotic Arab regimes to repress their peoples," he said.

Kilo, 66, classified by Amnesty International as a "prisoner of conscience", was arrested in Damascus with nine other dissidents in May after signing a declaration that called for radical change in relations between Syria and neighbouring Lebanon.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061221/wl_mideast_afp/syriapoliticsusiraq_061221205908