'Suicide' in Syria
Harold's List
October 14, 2005; Page A10
WSJ.com
Well, that was fast. It took only 24 hours for a state investigation to declare yesterday that Syrian Interior Minister Ghazi Kenaan had killed himself in his office on Wednesday with a .38 caliber Smith & Wesson revolver. The intrigue over what this means for Bashar Assad's Damascus dictatorship is just beginning, however.
Kenaan killed himself, if that's really what happened, only days before a U.N. prosecutor is supposed to issue his report on the February assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Kenaan was Syria's long-time intelligence chief in Lebanon, which was dominated by Damascus until this year's uprising after the Hariri murder. Kenaan was also one of at least seven Syrian officials interviewed recently by U.N. investigators.
Syria faces sanctions and international isolation if it is found to have played a role in the Hariri killing, and the young Assad's rule could well be in jeopardy. More than one dictator has attempted to survive such a predicament by shifting blame to underlings, and it's especially convenient if those blamed are no longer alive. Certainly many secrets of Syria's domination over Lebanon go to the grave with Kenaan.
In Roman times and in the modern Mafia, an official who ran afoul of the emperor or godfather was sometimes given the option of killing himself. As it happens, on Wednesday on CNN Assad again denied any role in the Hariri assassination -- only a short time before Kenaan turned up dead.
October 14, 2005; Page A10
WSJ.com
Well, that was fast. It took only 24 hours for a state investigation to declare yesterday that Syrian Interior Minister Ghazi Kenaan had killed himself in his office on Wednesday with a .38 caliber Smith & Wesson revolver. The intrigue over what this means for Bashar Assad's Damascus dictatorship is just beginning, however.
Kenaan killed himself, if that's really what happened, only days before a U.N. prosecutor is supposed to issue his report on the February assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Kenaan was Syria's long-time intelligence chief in Lebanon, which was dominated by Damascus until this year's uprising after the Hariri murder. Kenaan was also one of at least seven Syrian officials interviewed recently by U.N. investigators.
Syria faces sanctions and international isolation if it is found to have played a role in the Hariri killing, and the young Assad's rule could well be in jeopardy. More than one dictator has attempted to survive such a predicament by shifting blame to underlings, and it's especially convenient if those blamed are no longer alive. Certainly many secrets of Syria's domination over Lebanon go to the grave with Kenaan.
In Roman times and in the modern Mafia, an official who ran afoul of the emperor or godfather was sometimes given the option of killing himself. As it happens, on Wednesday on CNN Assad again denied any role in the Hariri assassination -- only a short time before Kenaan turned up dead.
posted by Marko at 10/14/2005 09:20:00 AM
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