Khaddam's company shut down in Syria

A report by Syrian Economic Center said that the Afia company owned by the two sons of the exiled former Syrian vice president Abdul Halim Khaddam, has been shut down by the authorities due to unsanitary conditions.

Khaddam, a Sunni who have been said by some reports as having felt that he should have assumed power after the death of the previous Syrian president Hafez al-Assad, has launched an opposition effort to topple the current regime.

This comes amid statements by Amnesty International that "Scores have been arrested from across the social and political spectrum in Syria in recent months -- including Kurds, Islamists, human rights activists, writers, students and leftists -- while others have been harshly sentenced after unfair trials."

Khaddam has accused the top Syrian leadership of involvement in the murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri. The Syrian Economic Center report said raid on Khaddam's shop was said to be for exporting bad meat to Lebanon.