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February 2010 - News
February 2010

Local News

Two Syrians killed in Haiti

Two Syrian expatriates were killed and three others wounded in the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12.

Daa’s Saleem Shrayqi, 37, and his wife Rula Elias Hashim, 30, were killed in the earthquake that struck the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, the online news site Syria News Station reported on January 17. Nihad al-Rayys, Ameer al-Rayys and Najib Karzai were also wounded in the disaster. Two were evacuated to the US for medical treatment and the third underwent surgery at a local hospital. The report did not specify who was evacuated.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs phoned the Syrian Honorary Consulate in Haiti to enquire about the well-being of the Syrian community. The Honorary Consulate reported that all other members of the Syrian community in Haiti were well despite the massive destruction.

Assad appoints new governors

A number of regional governors have been replaced. Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad issued Presidential Decree No. 15 of 2010 on January 6, relieving Abdul-Razzaq Qutaini from his post as a governor of Hama. Raqqa Governor Ahmad Shehadeh Khalil will now become the Hama governor, while Adnan Abdu al-Shekhni will take up the Raqqa posting.

Shekhni, a former MP, was born in Aleppo in 1961 and holds a PhD in electronics and electric engineering from Charles University in the Czech Republic.

Syrian journalist freed in Iran

Iran has freed a Syrian journalist working for Dubai TV who was arrested in Tehran in late December, the privately-owned Syrian website Sadasoria reported on January 10.

Reda al-Basha, 27, a news correspondent for Dubai Media Incorporated (DMI), the parent company for the TV channels, Dubai One, Dubai TV, Sama Dubai and Dubai Sports, went missing from near his home in the Iranian capital on December 28, DMI Director Ahmad Abdulla al-Shaikh said in a statement published by Sadasoria.

Basha was arrested a day after eight people were killed in clashes between security forces and supporters of Iranian opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi.