Call for Syrian reform

A Syrian member of parliament has criticised the government for failing to introduce fundamental economic and political reform.

The deputy, Riad Seif, called for greater transparency and an end to corruption.

He said political and economic monopolies had to be broken.

Mr Seif's remarks came in a speech to parliament during a budget debate last week; they were made public in faxes sent to western news agencies today.

Correspondents say Mr Seif's comments represent the first such open call for political reform since Bashar al-Assad became president in July, after his father's death. Mr Seif is quoted as saying the parliamentary speaker had asked that the speech be scrapped from the minutes of the session because Mr Seif had deviated from the main topic.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service