Former Syrian diplomat shot dead in southern Syria

A former Syrian diplomat was shot dead by unknown assailants in the southern Daraa province on Wednesday, local sources said.

The sources said that Noureddine Ibrahim Al-Labbad was killed in his hometown of Sanamayn.

Labbad had served as a diplomat under the deposed regime of Bashar al-Assad before he defected to the opposition in 2013.

There was no immediate comment from the Syrian authorities on the killing.

Labbad had previously served as a minister plenipotentiary in the Syrian Foreign Ministry and in his country's embassies in Yemen, Iraq, Türkiye, France, and Libya.

Assad, Syria's leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia on Dec. 8, 2024, ending the Baath Party regime, which had been in power since 1963.

Ahmed al-Sharaa, who led anti-regime forces to oust Assad, was declared president for a transitional period on Jan. 29.