SYRIA. COURT COMMUTES MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD MEMBER'S DEATH SENTENCE

a Syrian court sentenced a member of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood to death, but then commuted the verdict to a 12-year prison term, The National Organization for Human Rights in Syria said. Mohammad Osamah al-Sayyess, 27, had been in Syrian custody since 2005, when Britain deported him as an illegal immigrant. He was en route to Jordan when his flight stopped over in Belgium, where he was arrested and handed over to Syria. His trial began a year ago. Al-Sayyess was tried under a Syrian law which calls for death sentences against all members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Syria has a long history of putting members of the group to death.