Bashar al-Assad is a popular Farzat political cartoonist . He was abducted and beaten after a cartoon depicting Syria 's Ali Farzat . Farzat is known for his caricatures lampooning figures such as Saddam Hussein , who threatened him with death before banning his work in Iraq , and Gadhafi of Libya , where his work is also banned . The U.S. State Department blames the The U.S. State Department regime for a `` targeted , brutal attack '' Syrian 's supporters circulated a photo of the hospitalized cartoonist on the internet .
Bashar al-Assad is a popular Farzat political cartoonist . He was abducted and beaten after a cartoon depicting Syria 's Ali Farzat . The U.S. State Department blames the The U.S. State Department regime for a `` targeted , brutal attack '' Syrian 's supporters circulated a photo of the hospitalized cartoonist on the internet .