Syria Seeking Cartoonist's Attackers

Syrian police are hunting for the attackers who broke the hand of the country's leading political cartoonist, the official SANA news agency said Friday, after Washington condemned the attack.

"The competent authorities at the Interior Ministry are seeking the culprits in order to bring them to justice," the agency said.

Cartoonist Ali Ferzat, 60, said that four men abducted him while he returned home before dawn Thursday, and broke two fingers of his left hand, his right arm and damaged his left eye.

Opposition activists have accused members of the security services and masked pro-regime militias of being behind the attack.

The US on Thursday condemned the attack.

Citing information from the U.S. embassy in Damascus, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Ferzat's hands had been broken in what she called "the most disgusting and deplorable way to send a message."

Since the start of an anti-regime uprising in March, Ferzat, one of the Arab world's most renowned cartoonists, has published cartoons critical of the brutal crackdown on protesters.