Syria:licensing of four private press printings

Syria's Prime Minister Muhammad Mustafa Miro issued a decision for licensing the issuance of four non- political private publications, according to the Syrian official news agency SANA.

These new publications are "Dimiashqeyat "( a monthly cultural and tourism magazine, and al-Malaib ( the playgrounds ), and the two advertising weeklies al-Mu'lin ( the announcer) and al-Wasit al-Aqari ( the real estate mediator). These new publications are making use of a law which was approved in September 2001 and permits the issuance of papers that do are supervised by the state.

Earlier, three private publications were issued " Abyad and Aswad ( Black and White ), the political and economic weekly of an economic nature and " al-Dummari" a cynical weekly.

Other three papers not controlled by the state were issued since the beginning of 2000, all owned by parties taking part in the National Progressive Front, led by the ruling Baath Arab socialist party. Two of them are the two wings of the Syrian communist part. There is also in Syria three official Arabic language dailies which are "al-Baath, al-Thawra and Teshreen."