Syria accuses EU of rights hypocrisy

"Countries which have allowed secret prisons to be established on their territories or serviced through their air space ... have no right to set themselves up as defenders of human rights and interfere in other countries' internal affairs," the foreign ministry said Saturday.

"The European Union, which has imposed a blockade on the Palestinian people to starve them and to nullify their free democratic choice, has no right to pretend to defend human rights or democracy," the ministry added.

It was referring to the bloc's suspension of direct aid to the Hamas-led Palestinian government, which took power in March after the Islamic militant group's upset January election win.

European Union president Austria condemned Friday what it said was a wave of "arbitrary" arrests in Syria and called on Damascus to free political prisoners.

"The EU expresses its deep concern about the recent widespread harassment of human rights defenders, their families and peaceful political activists, in particular arbitrary arrests and repeated incommunicado detention," the EU presidency said in a statement.

Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Ahmed Arnus summoned the ambassadors of both the EU and Austria Saturday to deliver a formal complaint, the official SANA news agency said.

New York-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch also condemned the wave of arrests that has seen 12 activists held since last Sunday in connection with a petition urging Syria to recognize Lebanese independence.

"Arresting respected critics like Anwar al-Bunni and Michel Kilo shows that the Syrian government has no interest in peaceful, homegrown reform," said Joe Stork, deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa division at Human Rights Watch.

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