A prominent Syrian opposition figure who spent years in regime prisons before the country’s revolution and civil war erupted has died from coronavirus in exile in Paris.
Michel Kilo, 81, was first jailed by Hafez Al Assad, father of current president Bashar Al Assad, in the early 1980s for almost three years.
He spent a second stint in jail between 2006 and 2009 for his persistent opposition to the Assad regime.
Kilo died of complications from Covid-19 in a hospital in Paris, where he had lived in exile with his family since the outbreak of Syria's civil war in 2011.
His death “is a big loss for Syria", his daughter Sada told Associated Press. "He was the tolerant moderate mind, forgiving, loving. He was respected, even by his enemies.”
A committed Marxist, Kilo's opposition activities began in the 1980s when he opposed the trials of Muslim Brotherhood members by the regime of Hafez Al Assad.
In 2005, he was a key figure in drafting the Damascus Declaration, a document that called for Syria's gradual transition to democracy from a one-party dictatorship.
The following year, Kilo signed another declaration, alongside hundreds of other prominent Syrian and Lebanese activists and intellectuals, calling for the normalisation of relations between Syria and Lebanon.
Syria had dominated Lebanon for decades, including through a military occupation that only ended in 2005.
The declarations led to Kilo's second arrest and another three years in prison.
A Christian from the coastal city of Latakia, his criticism was not reserved solely for the Syrian regime.
Kilo was fiercely critical of the opposition groups that took up arms after 2011, as well as the Kurdish autonomous region established in Syria's north-east in the wake of the war's outbreak.
At the start of the uprising, he encouraged peaceful protests but warned that an armed uprising would lead to civil war.
For decades prior to that, Kilo had concentrated his efforts on opposing the Syrian regime from within the confines of the country's one-party Baathist state.
In 2015, he warned that foreign meddling had made Syria’s situation worse.
"We are hostages to meticulous political and diplomatic games," he said.
Tributes for Kilo poured in from across the spectrum of Syria’s opposition.
The loss is incalculable
Joel Rayburn, former US special envoy for Syria
Among them, senior opposition figure Nasr Al Hariri said: “Michel was an intellectual and patriotic powerhouse and his dream was to see a free and democratic Syria. God willing, the Syrian people will carry on this dream and see it through.”
Syrian intellectual Yassin Al Haj Saleh wrote: “I am very sorry for the passing of Michel Kilo, the intellectual and activist, who did not tire, nor get bored. A national loss despite all possible disagreements and differences.”
Joel Rayburn, the former US special envoy for Syria, said “the loss is incalculable”.
Kilo is survived by his wife, his daughter, and two sons, all of whom are in exile in France.
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The specs: 2019 Mini Cooper
Price, base: Dh141,740 (three-door) / Dh165,900 (five-door)
Engine: 1.5-litre four-cylinder (Cooper) / 2.0-litre four-cylinder (Cooper S)
Power: 136hp @ 4,500rpm (Cooper) / 192hp @ 5,000rpm (Cooper S)
Torque: 220Nm @ 1,480rpm (Cooper) / 280Nm @ 1,350rpm (Cooper S)
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 4.8L to 5.4L / 100km
Match info
Karnataka Tuskers 110-3
J Charles 35, M Pretorius 1-19, Z Khan 0-16
Deccan Gladiators 111-5 in 8.3 overs
K Pollard 45*, S Zadran 2-18
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Results
3pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 (Dirt) 1,000m; Winner: Dhafra, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
3.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 (D) 2,000m; Winner: Al Ajayib, Antonio Fresu, Eric Lemartinel
4pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 (D) 1,700m; Winner: Ashtr, Abdul Aziz Al Balushi, Majed Al Jahouri
4.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh40,000 (D) 1,700m; Winner: Falcon Claws, Szczepan Mazur, Doug Watson
5pm: Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan Cup – Prestige Handicap (PA) Dh100,000 (D) 1,700m; Winner: Al Mufham SB, Al Moatasem Al Balushi, Badar Al Hajri
5.30pm: Sharjah Marathon – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 2,700m; Winner: Asraa Min Al Talqa, Al Moatasem Al Balushi, Helal Al Alawi
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
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What is an FTO Designation?
FTO designations impose immigration restrictions on members of the organisation simply by virtue of their membership and triggers a criminal prohibition on knowingly providing material support or resources to the designated organisation as well as asset freezes.
It is a crime for a person in the United States or subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to knowingly provide “material support or resources” to or receive military-type training from or on behalf of a designated FTO.
Representatives and members of a designated FTO, if they are aliens, are inadmissible to and, in certain circumstances removable from, the United States.
Except as authorised by the Secretary of the Treasury, any US financial institution that becomes aware that it has possession of or control over funds in which an FTO or its agent has an interest must retain possession of or control over the funds and report the funds to the Treasury Department.
Source: US Department of State
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Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
JAPANESE GRAND PRIX INFO
Schedule (All times UAE)
First practice: Friday, 5-6.30am
Second practice: Friday, 9-10.30am
Third practice: Saturday, 7-8am
Qualifying: Saturday, 10-11am
Race: Sunday, 9am-midday
Race venue: Suzuka International Racing Course
Circuit Length: 5.807km
Number of Laps: 53
Watch live: beIN Sports HD
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
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- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
