SYRIA – GUNMEN BREAK HANDS OF POLITICAL CARTOONIST
—Associated Press
SYRIA
Gunmen Break Hands
Of Political Cartoonist
Masked gunmen dragged Syria’s best-known political cartoonist from his car before dawn, beat him severely and broke both his hands as a warning to stop drawing just days after he compared Syria’s president to Col. Moammar Gadhafi, a relative and activists said.
Ali Ferzat, 60 years old, is hospitalized with serious injuries. “This is just a warning,” the gunmen told Mr. Ferzat, according to a relative. “We will break your hands so that you’ll stop drawing.”
The men then singed the artist’s beard, put a bag over his head and dumped him on the side of the road.
This week, Mr. Ferzat published a cartoon on his website showing President Bashar al-Assad with a packed suitcase, hitching a ride with a fleeing Col. Gadhafi.
Many of his cartoons directly criticize Mr. Assad, even though caricatures of the president are forbidden.
