New periodicals to be licensed in Syria
Syria, Politics, 12/4/2001

The London- based al-Hayat daily said in a report to its correspondent in Damascus that there is hesitation in Syria over licensing political papers while art and advertising magazines are licensed.

In its Monday's issue, according to well-informed forces, the paper said that the ministry of information received some 70 licensing requests for private periodicals, entitled within the new decree enacted by President Bashar al-Assad, provided for founding private press, noting that the ministry only got three approvals from official sides concerned out of 10 official applications submitted to the government including two applications to found political papers.

The paper quoted what it called as experts, their confirmation that there is an official inclination not to give licensing to huge political papers and to concentrate on licensing advertising and art press. The paper also indicated one exception which is permitting member of the Syrian parliament Basil Dahdouh to issue al-Shaam paper, to be indirectly the mouthpiece for the Syrian social nationalist party and this licensing will be in the context of closing the file of the past with the said ( Syrian social nationalist party.

The paper also added that there are information that journalist Riyadh Najib al-Rayyes was green-lighted to re-issue al-Qabas paper which was founded by his father, in two copies in Beirut and Damascus.

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