Syrian authorities on Saturday arrested Riyadh Turk, the secretary general of the Communist Party, and a key opposition figure, reported Al Jazeera satellite channel, quoting a rights group.
The spokesman of the Committees for Human Rights Defense, Aktham Neissa, told the station that Turk was on a health-related vacation in the port city of Tartus when he was arrested.
Neissa said the detainee was at a medical clinic at the time of his arrest. Turk had been summoned for “routine” investigation ten days ago, the activist said, but was released afterwards.
Neissa said that the latest arrest might also be a matter of a brief interrogation. But if the leading communist would be detained, “it would be a very negative development.”
Sources close to the party have said that Turk, 71, had a heart attack on Friday, and the following day he was in the clinic for a check-up.
The opposition figure, who was released from jail in 1998 after 17 years behind bars, had earlier described Syrian President Bashar Al Assad’s ascent to the presidency as unconstitutional, stressing that there was "no hereditary republic.” – Albawaba.com
