DAMASCUS: Some 300 women activists from 28 countries have begun the second leg of a 12-day bicycle ride in what has become a yearly event to campaign for peace and highlight the plight of Arab women.

The riders from the “Follow the Women” organisation left Damascus on Tuesday and will travel to Jordan before ending in the Palestinian territories on May 14. The women began their journey in the Lebanese capital of Beirut on May 3.

The women will visit the Golan Heights and Palestinian refugee camps during their Syrian leg of the journey.

The event is being held for the fourth consecutive year and includes women from across the Arab world and from the US, Britain, Japan, South Africa, Turkey and Iran.—AP