26 Aug 2011

Cartoonist attacked by security forces

1:17 pm on 26 August 2011

A prominent cartoonist in Syria has been attacked by security forces loyal to President Bashar Assad.

Ali Ferzat is in hospital after being forced out of his car and beaten up by a group of armed men in the capital, Damascus.

Mr Ferzat, whose cartoons often mock repression and injustice in the Arab world, is a strong critic of President Assad.

The BBC reports pictures of him with his hands in bandages have been posted.