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Syria Detains Prominent Dissident-Writer 2 | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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DAMASCUS, Syria, AP – Syria has detained a prominent writer and democracy campaigner who has long been one of the government’s most outspoken critics, his family and a local rights organization said Monday.

Michel Kilo, 66, was detained Sunday, days after he signed a petition calling on the government to improve its relations with neighboring Lebanon, said Ammar Qurabi, the head of the National Organization for Human Rights.

Kilo’s daughter, Shaza, told The Associated Press that her father was summoned by the security police at noon on Sunday and did not return home.

The Syrian government tightly controls national politics and often arrests critics.

Kilo has long called for reform in Syria and has criticized the government’s involvement in the political affairs of Lebanon.

He is a political analyst and well-known writer whose works are frequently published by Lebanese newspapers, including the leading anti-Syrian An-Nahar daily.