They were arrested for attending Seif's forum - holding political discussions, according to the authorities constitutes a crime

Aktham Nueisa Head of the Committees for the Defence of Human Rights

When the late president's son, Bashar al-Assad, came to power, he promised wide-ranging democratic reforms in Syria.

But correspondents say an initial opening up of political activity has since been sharply reversed.

An official said the five detained on Sunday were Kamal Labwani, Habib Saleh, Arif Dalila, Hassan Saadoun and Walid al-Bunni - all human rights activists.

Political forums

Aktham Nueisa, the head of the Committees for the Defence of Human Rights in Syria, said that the five were arrested for attending Mr Seif's forum.

"They were arrested for attending Seif's forum - holding political discussions, according to the authorities constitutes a crime," he said.

Mr Seif held the forum, which was attended by more than 200 intellectuals, without government permission.

Free speech forums started to emerge last year after the death of President Hafez al-Assad, who ruled Syria with an iron fist for 30 years, but they were shut down in March.

The political forums have called for free elections, the suspension of martial law which has been in force for almost four decades and the release of political prisoners.

Arrests denounced

Leading opposition figure Hassan Abdul-Azeem denounced the arrests and called for an immediate release for the prisoners.

"This new arrest of intellectuals who are expressing their views regarding the reform is not justified and has no legal basis because none of them is threatening state security," he said.

Since taking office in July 2000 President Bashar has relaxed the tight controls imposed by his father, freeing more than 600 political prisoners.

But analysts say his plans for further reform have been thwarted by his late father's allies, who have staged a comeback in the last six months.