Source:
South Africa Times OnlineSyria's best-known satirical cartoonist was grabbed Thursday by gunmen in Damascus who beat him then threw him out of a car, activists said.
Masked Syrian security force members and masked pro-regime shabiha militiamen grabbed Ali Ferzat at the capital's Ummayad square while he was returning home by car at 1:30am GMT, said the Local Coordination Committees, which groups activists on the ground.
"The attackers stole the contents of his briefcase, including his drawings and other personal belongings," the LCC's Omar Idlbi said in a statement. "He was beaten hard, notably on his hands. Passersby found him on the road to the airport and he was taken to hospital," he said. "The Syrian security forces are fully responsible for what happens to Ali Ferzat, especially as he had recently undergone a spinal operation," Idlbi added.
Since the start of an anti-regime uprising in March, Ferzat, one of the Arab world's most renowned cartoonists, has published cartoons critical of the brutal crackdown on protesters.
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http://www.timeslive.co.za/world/2011/08/25/syrian-cartoonist-beaten-up-activists