an agreement, Bitar launched a press campaign against the Syrian government from his exile in Paris, attacking it in a new magazine which he entitled al-Ihiyyaa al-Arabi, in an echo of the name he and Aflaq had adopted almost forty years before. He was also rumored to be in contact with Syrian opposition figures in Baghdad. On 21 July 1980, Bitar was shot dead in Paris. That morning, he received a telephone call to meet a journalist at the office of al-Ihiyyaa al-Arabi in Avenue Hoche. As he was exiting the elevator to enter his office, his assassin fired two shots to the back of his head. The identity of his killer was never discovered, but it was reported that Assad ordered the assassination. At the time, Bitar had reported to local authorities in France that he had received death threats by mail and telephone. He took personal measures by limiting his movements. At the time of the assassination, Bitar held a diplomatic passport issued by South Yemen. Books His writings include: Al-Siyasah al-Arabiyah bayn al-Mabda wa al-Tatbiq (Arab Policy in Principle and Practice). Beirut: Dar al-Taliah, 1960. Nida al-Ba'th (The Baath's Struggle). Beirut: Dar al-Taliah, 1963–1965. Vols. 1-4 contain items by subject. Notes Bibliography 1912 births 1980 deaths Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region politicians Assassinated Syrian politicians Deaths by firearm in France Foreign ministers of Syria Leaders ousted by a coup Members of the National Command of the Ba'ath Party 1980 murders in France People from Damascus People murdered in Paris Prime Ministers of Syria Recipients of Syrian presidential pardons Syrian Arab nationalists Syrian anti-communists Syrian people murdered abroad Terrorism deaths in France 20th-century Syrian politicians Syrian schoolteachers Muslim socialists 1980s murders in Paris