Syrian poet and diplomat Nour Al-Din Labad killed after returning to his hometown from France

The National

13-03-2025

A prominent Franco-Syrian activist has been killed in Daraa, days after he returned to his hometown, The National understands. Nour Al-Din Labad, a former Syrian diplomat who defected from the Assad regime in the early years of the civil war was killed on Tuesday by unidentified gunmen. Mr Labad, who held a PhD in French literature and lived in exile in France, had become the opposition coalition's (SNC) representative there during the civil war. He returned to his hometown of Sanamayn in Daraa province recently, despite security concerns and clashes between the government's forces and militias linked to Muhsin Al Haimad, a former regime loyalist who has entrenched his men there. The killing was confirmed by his associate Bashar Hajj Ali, a Brussels-based representative of the SNC, who added that the funeral took place on Wednesday. The new authorities entered Sanamayn earlier this month, capturing dozens of Mr Al Haimad's men. Those close to Mr Labad believe his killing was by gunmen linked to Mr Al Haimad, who held him responsible for the government's intervention in Daraa. Mr Hajj Ali said he had spoken to Mr Labad just days before the attack. 'He wanted to be home with his family. I told him he would be safer in Damascus, he said he felt safe and that everything so far had been fine,' he told The National. Mr Labad was also a poet who wrote about revolution, war and exile. Of his return to Sanamayn earlier this month, he wrote on social media: "Fifty-five years ago, here in this pool, my grandfather taught me to swim, and here I used to herd the cows with him. I know every rock, rock by rock, every stone, stone by stone, and the waterways and pools, and how the hissing water used to flow." Videos on social media show he was celebrated by locals holding up Syria's new revolutionary flag when he returned to Sanamayn. France has granted asylum to around 30,000 Syrians since the start of a civil war in 2011. The government last month allowed them to return home temporarily without losing their refugee status. Asylum is normally withdrawn if a person returns to their home country. Under French law, this means they are on longer in need of France's protection. Syrians living in France have previously told The National that while they are keen to visit family after more than a decade of separation, they are unsure whether the country will remain stable enough for them to return in the long-term. France had cut off ties with the former Assad regime, but French diplomats have regularly been travelling back and forth to Damascus since the rebel take-over in December. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot was among the most vocal of the EU's 27 countries in calling for a lifting of transport and energy sanctions against Syria – a move greenlighted by Brussels last month. The EU's foreign ministers are set to examine further sanction lifting at a meeting in Brussels on Monday. European capitals will be watching closely how the new authorities in Damascus will implement justice in the case of killings such as that of Mr Labad's. The massacre of hundreds of Alawites on the Syrian coast in the past week has raised fears of a new civil war. The announcement by interim President Ahmad Al Shara that an independent investigative committee would look into the murders has been welcomed in Europe. But the view is also that it is not enough: killers must face justice so that trust in Mr Al Shara's government can be consolidated. 'Everything must be done to prevent any such crimes from happening again,' the EU's foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas said in a statement on Tuesday on behalf of the EU. The bloc highlighted that its recent suspension of sanctions on Syria is a reversible process. Sanctions may be reinstated if the EU feels that Damascus does not respect the rights of minorities, women and the rule of law. 'The EU will continue to examine possible further sanctions suspensions on the basis of close monitoring of the situation in the country,' said the statement.