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

Unidentified gunmen assassinated the prominent ex-diplomat and former representative of the exiled Syrian National Coalition

Nour Al-Din Labad had returned from France to his Syrian hometown of Sanamayn this month but was shot dead by gunmen. His funeral has already been held. Photo: Facebook

A prominent France-based Syrian activist has been killed in Deraa, Syria, only 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 doctorate in French literature and lived in exile in France, had become the opposition coalition Syrian National Council representative during the civil war.

He returned to his hometown of Sanamayn in Deraa recently, despite security concerns and clashes between the government’s forces and militias linked to Muhsin Al Haimad, a former Assad regime loyalist who has entrenched his men in the southern province.

The killing was confirmed by Mr Labad's associate Bashar Hajj Ali, a Brussels-based representative of the SNC, who said the funeral took place on Wednesday.

Security forces under Syria's new authorities entered Sanamayn 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 intervention in Deraa.

Mr Hajj Ali said he had spoken to Mr Labad only days before the attack. “He wanted to be home with his family,” he told The National. "I told him he would be safer in Damascus, he said he felt safe and that everything so far had been fine."

Mr Labad was also a poet who wrote about revolution, war and exile. Of his return to Sanamayn 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 his return to Sanamayn was celebrated by residents holding up Syria's new revolutionary flag.

Members of Syria's new security forces gather in Sanamayn, in the southern province of Deraa, during a large-scale military campaign this month. AFP

French diplomatic sources said they were unaware of the death of a French citizen in Syria. France has yet to reopen its embassy in Damascus but French diplomats have regularly been travelling back and forth to Damascus since the rebel takeover 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 approved by Brussels last month.

France has granted asylum to about 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 no 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.

European capitals have said they will be watching closely how the new authorities in Damascus will enact justice in the case of killings such as that of Mr Labad’s.

The killing 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 deaths 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 bloc.

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,” the statement said.