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My Profile Top News Reuters top ten news stories delivered to your inbox each day. Subscribe You are here: Home > News > International > Article Home Business & Finance News U.S. Politics International Technology Entertainment Sports Lifestyle Oddly Enough Health Science Special Coverage Video Pictures Your View The Great Debate Blogs Weather Reader Feedback Do More With Reuters RSS Widgets Mobile Podcasts Newsletters Your View Make Reuters My Homepage Partner Services CareerBuilder Affiliate Network Professional Products Support (Customer Zone) Reuters Media Financial Products About Thomson Reuters Syrian political writer set free after 3 years in jail Tue May 19, 2009 6:41pm EDT Email | Print | Share | Reprints | Single Page [-] Text [+] By Khaled Yacoub Oweis DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Syrian authorities released prominent writer Michel Kilo from prison Tuesday after he completed a three-year sentence for political crimes related to his calls to mend relations with neighboring Lebanon. "Michel Kilo was set free tonight. I spoke to him. He is now at home," Kilo's lawyer Mohannad al-Hassani told Reuters. Kilo's jail term expired last Thursday. He was moved to a security compound and kept under arrest there for another five days before he was released, the Syrian observatory for Human Rights said. "Congratulations on your return to freedom, Michel Kilo. All prisoners of conscious in Syria must be set free. Arbitrary arrests must cease," a statement by the group said. The 69-year political writer was a leading signatory of the Damascus-Beirut Declaration, a 2006 document signed by 500 intellectuals and political activists from Syria and Lebanon. Shortly after the declaration was issued, Kilo was arrested and charged with weakening national morale. The document urged the Damascus government to establish diplomatic relations with Lebanon, a move demanded by the international community and taken by Syria two years later. The declaration also called for demarcating the Syrian-Lebanese border and an end to political killings in Lebanon following the assassination of Rafik al-Hariri, a parliamentarian and former prime minister, and other figures who were mostly opposed Syria's role in Lebanon. Human rights lawyer Anwar al-Bunni, another signatory, received a five year sentence on the same charge as Kilo. He is still in jail despite Western calls on Syria to release him. Unlike other non-violent critics of the government, who sometimes are let free after completing three quarters of their sentence, Kilo, served his full term. The United States and the European Union had called repeatedly on the Syrian government to free Kilo and French President Nicolas Sarkozy intervened in vain with President Bashar al-Assad during a visit to Damascus last year. Kilo had tried to operate within the confines of Syria's political system, which has been monopolized by the Baath Party since it took power in a 1963 coup, banned all opposition and imposed emergency law still in force today. His captivity sent a signal that even milder forms of dissent were not allowed in Syria, human rights campaigners said. "Kilo had concluded a while before his arrest that the regime was not interested in any meaningful political reform," one opposition figure said. The Syrian government has stepped up a campaign of arrests against opposition figures since its relations with the West improved sharply last year. Officials have dismissed Western criticism about lack of observance of human rights in Syria as interference in internal Syrian affairs. © Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved Share: Del.icio.us Digg Mixx Yahoo! Facebook LinkedIn Next Article: WHO sees 4.9 billion pandemic flu shots in best-case Afghanistan and Pakistan Fighting the Taliban A growing insurgency in Afghanistan is also spreading deep into Pakistan, making both countries crucial to U.S. war efforts in the region. Full Coverage More International News Indonesia says 97 killed in military plane crash Myanmar opens Suu Kyi trial to diplomats, media Pakistani army says make headway in area near Swat | Video Karadzic lawyer says has evidence of immunity deal Suicide blast kills 2 U.S. soldiers outside Kabul More International News... Featured Broker sponsored link Editor's Choice Slideshow A selection of our best photos from the past 24 hours. 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Commentary Follow Bernd Debusmann on Twitter We want to hear from you Join the Reuters Consumer Insight Panel and help us get to know you better Please take a moment to complete our survey Reuters.com: Help and Contact Us | Advertise With Us | Mobile | Newsletters | RSS | Interactive TV | Labs | Archive | Site Index | Video Index Thomson Reuters Corporate: Copyright | Disclaimer | Privacy | Professional Products | Professional Products Support | About Thomson Reuters | Careers International Editions: Africa | Arabic | Argentina | Brazil | Canada | China | France | Germany | India | Italy | Japan | Latin America | Mexico | Russia | Spain | United Kingdom | United States Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. 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