Syrian minister commits suicide

2005-10-12 17:37

Damascus - Syrian interior minister Ghazi Kanaan, a former military intelligence chief and virtual viceroy in Lebanon, committed suicide in his Damascus office on Wednesday, the government announced.

"The cabinet announces the suicide of interior Minbiter Ghazi Kanaan in his office at the beginning of the afternoon," according to a statement published by state news agency Sana.

"The relevant authorities are investigating," the agency added.

Kanaan spoke to Voice of Lebanon radio earlier on Wednesday and said it would be his "final declaration".

Kanaan's suicide comes after a United Nations team investigating the assassination in Beirut of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri interviewed him and a number of Syrian figures in connection with the case last month.

Death before commission of inquiry

His death come just two weeks before a UN commission of inquiry into the Hariri assassination is due to release a report on its findings.

Syria and its allies in Lebanon have been widely blamed as being behind the Hariri murder, something Damascus has strongly denied.

On July 20, Kanaan was quoted in the Beirut daily As-Safir as saying he had no information on the murder, stressing that military intelligence was only in charge of security for Syrian troops and co-ordination with Lebanese authorities.

But Kanaan was seen for two decades as the paramount commander to whom Lebanese leaders reported directly on political and security issues.

Named interior minister in October 2004, he served between 1982 and 2003 as Syrian military intelligence chief for Lebanon.

In June, the United States government froze Kanaan's assets for his alleged involvement in corruption and support for terrorism.

- AFP