Syrian opposition figure Michel Kilo dies of COVID-19

FILE PHOTO: Prominent Syrian opposition activist Michel Kilo, accompanied by other members of the delegation representing the Syrian opposition, walks out of the Foreign Ministry headquarters after a meeting with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, July 9, 2012. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Prominent Syrian dissident Michel Kilo, a writer who was jailed for opposing the country's leadership, had died in France from COVID-19, opposition politicians said on Monday.

Kilo, a Christian in his early eighties from the coastal city of Latakia, was involved in the opposition early on in the 10-year conflict in Syria that spiralled after a crackdown on mass protests against President Bashar al-Assad's rule.