Syrian activist held for attending open meetings abroad

A human rights activist has been arrested on his return home from two opposition and human rights conferences he attended in Washington and Paris, his family said.

Ammar Qurabi of the Arab Organization for Human Rights in Syria was arrested on Sunday at Damascus airport upon his return from Paris, according to a statement issued by his family and emailed to foreign news agencies in the Syrian capital.

The statement said Qurabi did not do anything that deserves punishment and urged international human rights organizations to press for his release.

President Bashar Al Assad has since coming to power freed many political prisoner. But he has also clamped down on critics of his government.