Syrian Islamists seek free elections

As if Assad didn't have enough problems in Lebanon, now this:

The Muslim Brotherhood, banned inSyria since 1980, has called for an end to the ruling Baath party's 42-year grip on power, and for holding free and fair elections.

The movement, which was behind an armed uprising in the 1980s that marked the biggest challenge to the Damascus government to date, called for a national congress of all political parties to ward off what it said was a "threat of invasion", an allusion to growing US pressure on the government.

The Muslim Brotherhood urges the organisation of an inclusive national congress that would represent all political tendencies and religious and ethnic groups, whether based inside Syria or in exile, to form a national force capable of facing the challenges," the Muslim Brotherhood said in a statement on Monday.

More heartburn in store for Mideast authoritarian dictators, you can put money on that.