The Syrian government does not comment on its Internet
restrictions. But several Web users in Syria told the Associated Press on
Tuesday that the sites were accessible for the first time in years without
having to tunnel through proxy servers.
The head of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of
Expression, Mazen Darwish, said he has “semiofficial confirmation” the ban is
being lifted. He did not elaborate.
The
gesture could be seen as a concession to stave off unrest following popular
uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia.
But it is
not a major compromise by President Bashar Assad, as many Syrians accessed the
sites anyway using proxy servers.
Syria has
escaped the kind of popular upheaval roiling other Arab countries. An online
campaign calling for a “Day of Rage” against Bashar's regime last weekend fell
flat when no protesters showed up in Damascus.
But in
the wake of the unrest in Egypt and Tunisia, Bashar told the Wall Street
Journal in an interview that he will seek to push through political reforms.
Bashar, a
45-year-old British-trained eye doctor, inherited power from his father, Hafez,
in 2000, after three decades of rule. He has since moved slowly to lift economic
restrictions, letting in foreign banks, throwing the doors open to imports and
empowering the private sector.
