by emad » Wed Oct 12, 2005 1:14 pm
<br>Syria's Interior Minister Ghazi Kanaan has committed suicide, the official news agency in Damascus says. <br><br>He was reportedly questioned by a UN investigator last month over the murder of ex-Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri. <br><br>For many years Kanaan was Syria's powerful intelligence chief in Lebanon, which was dominated by Syria until its military withdrawal earlier this year. <br><br>Hours before his death, he said he had served Lebanon with honesty, adding that this interview may be his last. <br><br>Last message? <br><br>"Interior Minister Brig Gen Ghazi Kanaan committed suicide in his office before noon," the Syrian Arab News Agency (Sana) reported. <br><br>The authorities are carrying out the "necessary investigation" into the incident, Sana said. <br><br>GHAZI KANAAN, 1942 - 2005 <br>Born in 1942 into Allawite minority in Lattakia area, Syria<br>Graduated from military school in 1965 <br>Served as aide to late President Hafez al-Assad in early 1970s<br>Syrian spy and security chief in Lebanon from 1982 to 2002<br>Appointed head of political security in Damascus in 2002<br>Appointed Syrian interior minister in 2004<br>Assets frozen by US treasury in early 2005<br><br><br>Obituary: Lebanon's kingpin <br><br>Kanaan contacted Voice of Lebanon radio station on Wednesday to give what he called his "final statement". <br><br>"I want to make clear that our relation with our brothers in Lebanon was based on love and mutual respect... We have served Lebanon's interest with honour and honesty," he said. <br><br>He asked for his comments to be passed to other broadcast media. <br><br>After serving in Lebanon, Kanaan returned to Damascus as political intelligence chief in 2002, and joined the cabinet in 2004. <br><br><br><br><br>UN findings <br><br>The UN report on Hariri's assassination is expected to be published before the end of October. <br><br>Correspondents say it is likely to implicate Syria's intelligence regime and its allies in Lebanon in the bombing, that killed 20 people in central Beirut in February. <br><br>Damascus has denied any involvement in the Hariri bombing, but it immediately came under heavy international pressure to relinquish its political and military control on Lebanon. <br><br>The UN investigator, German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, questioned seven senior Syrian officials in Damascus during a visit at the end of September, Lebanese media reported. <br><br>Between the 1980s and his departure, Kanaan was Syria's top official in Beirut, whom Lebanese leaders had to report to directly on political and security issues, correspondents say. <br><br>The United States froze his assets there in July saying he had aided terrorism in Lebanon. <br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4334442.stm">news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world...334442.stm</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br> <br> <p></p><i></i>
