SYRIAN JAILED FOR INTERNET USAGE:

Abdel Rahman al-Shaghouri, 32, received a two-and-a-half year sentence for “publishing false news that saps the morale of the nation”.

He had been arrested in February 2003, and his computer equipment seized.

Four other Syrians are facing similar charges in cases which their lawyer, Anwar al-Bunni, said were “aimed at keeping Syria backwards”.

Indeed.