The Syria-based Arab Human Rights Organization said Monday that local authorities had arrested, last Wednesday, 50 young men in the Shammas and Mukhayyam localities near the central city of Homs. "The arrests were made as local authorities were trying to round up some Jordanian students, who live in those localities near the Baath University," the organization said in a statement issued in Damascus.Most of those arrested ranged in age between 16 and 20 and they came from several families including Subhiyya, Darwish and Ghannam, the statement said. The organization described the arrests as "unfair" and added that it viewed them with "growing concern." The statement called on the authorities to release all "political detainees" and issue a general amnesty, cancel the existing emergency laws and allow the judiciary to operate freely without outside interference. The organization's public relations officer, Ammar Qorba, told reporters that people were being arrested according to the emergency laws and on mere suspicion. He added that the growing number of arrests "raises several questions over the Syrian authorities' attitude towards the public freedom issue.
There were clashes in Homs recently. They involved a fundamentalist group led by a Tunisian national. The group was allegedly trying to sneak to Lebanon illegally. The clashes led to the killing of the group leader and left 34 people injured. Last week, there was a clash in the Qassioun Mountain in Damascus after a reported breaking and entering incident. The armed group included four members. In the aftermath of this clash, the authorities were able to track down a Jordanian wanted man, Mohammad Ayed Al-Samadi. He was found in the Al-Hosn hospital, in the Tal Kalakh area near Homs. He died there from injuries he had received in earlier clashes. His sister, Nisrin Al-Samadi, was arrested in addition to two persons, Mohammad Islam Al-Samadi and Rihab Al-Chehabi.