Celebrated Syrian author, poet and screenwriter Khaled Khalifa dies aged 59

Khalifa was one of Syria's most acclaimed contemporary novelists, though his six novels were banned in the country

Syrian author, poet and screenwriter Khaled Khalifa, whose novels set in Aleppo memorialised a city ruined by civil war, has died aged 59.

The writer died from cardiac arrest at his home in Damascus, a close friend told the French news agency AFP.