Syria gets first non-party newspaper

For nearly 40 years, only state-run media was on offer

A Syrian newspaper not affiliated to the ruling Baath party has gone on sale, in a move that officials have described as a sign of greater political freedom in the country.

The paper, called Sawt al-Sha'b, is run by the Syrian Communist Party and is the first to be published without government control since the Baathists came to power in 1963.

The president has embarked on a path of slow reform

A senior SCP member, Ammar Bakdash, was quoted as saying it would initially appear twice a month, but the aim was for it to become a weekly publication.

He said everyone could contribute to the paper - providing they did not deviate from what he called the line of fighting imperialism and Zionism.

In late November, the Baath party gave permission to print a newspaper to members of the National Progressive Front - the coalition of parties which it leads.

Al-Baath, the official newspaper of the ruling party, wrote on Thursday that the publication of the new paper would "reinforce the freedom of expression of the press."

The Baath party established Al-Baath and the state paper ath-Thwara, when it came to power in 1963.

Another official government paper, Tishrin, was launched in the 1970s.

Media shuffle

Since taking office in July, President Bashar al-Assad embarked on a path towards reform, notably to liberalise Syria's stagnant state-run economy.

The centrally-planned economy was built on the old Soviet model, resulting in massive waste and heavily-subsidised industries that could not compete in the free market.

Just after he assumed power, Mr Assad replaced the heads of the official newspapers and of Syrian radio and television.

And in early December, the Baath Party approved major economic reforms, including the creation of private banks for the first time in 37 years.

But some officials have criticised the new president for moving too cautiously on his reform programme.

Syrian MP Riad Seif recently published a strong and virtually unprecedented attack on the government, calling for political reform, greater freedom of parliament and an honest judiciary to clean up the economy and attract investors.