Mick Hartley

Earlier this month he was on al-Arabiya TV suggesting that in Syria "the barrier of fear has been shattered". Well, not if Assad's goons have their way:

One of the best-known cartoonists in the Arab world has been beaten up by Syrian security forces, activists say.

Ali Ferzat, whose work is critical of the government, was forced from his car in Damascus and badly beaten.

In one of his latest cartoons, Ali Ferzat shows President Assad sweatily clutching a suitcase while he tries to hitch a lift with the Libyan leader, Col Muammar Gaddafi, who is furiously driving a getaway car.

The Syrian cartoonist has produced a stream of images like this in the past few months that have directly attacked the Syrian leader, says the BBC's Arab affairs analyst Sebastian Usher.

In one, President Assad is shown patiently white-washing the shadow of a huge security thug on a wall, while the real man stands untouched. The caption reads: "Lifting the emergency law".

Another shows Mr Assad flexing in uniform in front of a mirror that reflects back a dominant, muscular image, overshadowing his puny figure.

Syrian activists say Mr Ferzat was forced out of his car before dawn in Damascus, beaten and dumped at the side of a road.

Pictures of Mr Ferzat in hospital showed his face bruised and heavy bandages on both hands.

Mr Ferzat's beating shows that he has hit home and that the authorities have no more tolerance for dissent, says our Arab affairs analyst.