English
Top Syria official ‘assassinated’
A senior military official close to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been assassinated, according to Arab media reports. The official, identified as Brig Gen Mohammed Suleiman, was shot dead on Friday night at a beach resort near the port city of Tartus, the reports say. Damascus has so far refused to comment on the alleged shooting. The Free Syria website, which opposes the Syrian government, described him as President Assad’s top security adviser. Pan-Arab newspapers al-Hayat and Asharq al-Awsat say Mr Suleiman had responsibility for sensitive security issues. Mr Suleiman was also reported to serve as Syria’s liaison officer to Hezbollah - a powerful political and military organisation of Shia Muslims in Lebanon. Report details The circumstances of the alleged shooting remain unclear. The first report of Mr Suleiman’s death appeared on Saturday on the Arab website al-Bawaba, which said he had been killed by a seaborne sniper. Another website, run by a member of President Assad’s ruling Baath Party, Ayman Abdul Nour, said Mr Suleiman was shot on Friday night at his beach house. A sniper on a yacht was behind the attack, according to the website of former regime figure and now exiled dissident Abdul Halim Khaddam. Asharq al-Awsat newspaper offered more detail saying he was shot with four bullets. According to the website reports, a funeral service was held for Mr Suleiman on Sunday in his hometown of Duraykish, close to Tartus. It is the first assassination in Syria since February, when Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh was killed in a car bomb explosion in the capital, Damascus. |
|
Source: BBC
More Top News
Hollywood heavyweights Robert De Niro and Al Pacino reunited on the red carpet in New York Wednesday night for the premiere of their new crime thriller “Righteous Kill” — their first film together since making 1995’s “Heat.”
The movie also stars
The Pakistani Army has been given orders to retaliate against any unilateral strike by the Afghanistan-based US troops inside the country.
Army Spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas confirmed the orders in a brief interview with Geo News on late Thursday night.
The
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says he will not accept military action or new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear activities.
“We should not take any unilateral steps. It is not acceptable to opt for a military scenario. It would be dangerous,”
As the world marks the seventh anniversary of 9/11, some European experts say security improvements in the US have been undercut by fairly basic mistakes. Among the remedies is more trust in America’s laws and allies.
Seven years after the attacks
David Miliband has allegedly come in for a rather undiplomatic tongue-lashing from his Russian counterpart.
The Foreign Secretary was apparently given a furious dressing down by Sergei Lavrov over the telephone.
Mr Miliband’s criticism of Russia’s recent incursion into Georgia is believed
PIETERMARITZBURG, South Africa - A South African judge ruled Friday that prosecutors were wrong to charge ANC President Jacob Zuma with corruption, effectively clearing way for the 66-year-old former freedom fighter to become the country’s next president.
Judge Chris Nicholson’s ruling
Thailand’s political turmoil deepened Friday when the ruling coalition failed to turn up to parliament to reelect leader Samak Sundaravej as prime minister.
Lawmakers from the six-party coalition did not attend an emergency session of parliament called to choose a prime minister, three days after a court stripped Samak of power for accepting payments for hosting
Feeds