Hizbullah's top military commander Imad Mugniyah, mysteriously killed in a blast two months ago, has been the subject of lively discussion in the Arab press in recent days. Lebanon's Al-Shiraa magazine reported Saturday that two weeks ago Syrian intelligence broke into the houses of two Syrian officers in Damascus and executed them with shots to the head, apparently due to their involvement in Mugniyah's assasination. That's a little sloppy. I'd have waited until they came in to work and arranged for them to fall down the stairs.
| I think they wanted to send a message, and 'shot in the head at home in bed' does that better than 'tripped and fell down the stairs elebenteen times at the coppe shoppe' ... |
You don't leave witnesses behind
The story came in the wake of a barrage of recent reports involving the Head of Syrian Military Intelligence, Assaf Shawkat. Former Syrian Vice President, Abdul Halim Khaddam claimed that Shawkat, President Bashar al-Assad's brother-in-law, was placed under house arrest after revealing information about the circumstances of Mugniyah's death.
This I've heard elsewere
Other reports claimed that Shawkat's wife fled the country along with Assad's sister in order to seek political asylum in France or one of the Arab countries. French officials denied the country's involvement in the issue.
Al-Shiraa further reported that intelligence officers this week opened fire on a military vehicle driven by an officer who was reportedly in league with Shawkat. The officer was not injured.
More sloppy work. Perhaps they've run out of field operatives. Or the pros are staying out of it.
On Sunday Syria was scheduled to release for publication the conclusions of the investigation into Mugniyah's death, but officials said the statement was delayed due to the large-scale home front drill that took place in Israel. The officials did not provide a new date for the report's release.