Akram Bunni is a stocky, bespectacled 51-year old with grey hair and an easy laugh that he maintains even when he discusses his brother Anwar, a prominent human rights lawyer who now languishes in jail and who is on a hunger strike.

"Don't worry, eat, eat," he urges while gesticulating toward the well-decked table in a fashionable Damascus café. "Anwar would like us to enjoy ourselves."