EU Urges Immediate Release of Top Syrian Activists

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton denounced the arrest of blogger Razan Ghazzawi, rights campaigner Mazen Darwish and several other Syrian activists, calling Friday for their immediate release.

A statement from her office said she "deplores the arrest on Thursday by Syrian security forces" of Darwish, Ghazzawi and at least 12 others including Darwish's wife.

Expressing concern about their physical safety, she demanded information about their whereabouts and called for their families to be allowed to visit them.

All of those arrested together with all political prisoners should be released "in accordance with Syria's commitments to the Arab League to end violence," her statement added.

Colleagues said Ghazzawi was arrested in an afternoon raid on the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression Thursday, which is located in central Damascus and is headed by Darwish.

Later Thursday, the U.N. General Assembly demanded an immediate halt to Syria's brutal crackdown, which human rights groups say has claimed more than 6,000 lives over the past 11 months.

China, Russia and Iran opposed the largely symbolic text put forward by Arab states with Western support just days after Beijing and Moscow vetoed a similar resolution in the U.N. Security Council.