Son of Assad seen behind liberalization on travel for Syrians

LONDON [MENL] -- Syria is preparing to ease restrictions on foreign travel, an Arab newspaper reported on Thursday.

The London-based Al Hayat daily said the regime of President Hafez Assad plans to cut bureaucracy and restrictions to allow citizens to obtain visas. They said Interior Minister Mohammed Kharbah will oversee the new regulations.

Diplomatic sources said plans to ease restrictions are part of a drive led by Assad's son and heir-apparent, Bashar Assad, to liberalize Syria's economy and encourage foreign investment. The sources said this would be virtually impossible without a significant easing of restrictions against foreign travel by Syrians.

Currently, the huge majority of Syrians cannot leave the country -- either for security reasons, or because they cannot afford the fees they must deposit to ensure their return. In his meetings in the Gulf earlier this week, Bashar pledged to Syrian businessmen living in the diaspora that they will be able to freely visit their homeland and transfer assets to and from Syria.

Meanwhile, the dissident brother of Syrian President Hafez Assad has branded as lies claimed by Damascus that only two supporters were killed in a clash last month. Supporters of Rifaat Assad said on Wednesday that hundreds of people were killed or injured when Syria's military attacked Rifaat's home and port in the Mediterranean city of Latakia. They said the president sent tanks and combat ships to bomb and strafe Rifaat's home.

Rifaat was not at home. He has been in Spain in exile after he was stripped of the vice presidency by his older brother.

The supporters of Rifaat also disputed the assertion by Syrian Information Minister Mohammad Salman that authorities had tried to close the port since 1995. Salman told reporters on Monday that Rifaat refused to abide by a 1995 Transportation Ministry order to remove it "despite the repeated warnings."

Earlier, the Russian military news agency AVN reported that Moscow will modernize the Syrian port of Tartus. The agency said Russia will upgrade the maintenance installations and the communications facilities next year.

The port is the main facility used by Syria's Soviet-era fleet of Russian-made patrol and attack boats. A Russian military official quoted in the report said the renovations underlined Moscow's intention to resume its presence in the Mediterranean.