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Assad's brother-in-law 'detained for exposing Syrian role' in Mughniyeh hit

Daily Star staff
Monday, April 07, 2008



BEIRUT: Major General Assef Shawkat, head of Syria's military intelligence and President Bashar Assad's brother-in-law, is under house arrest, former Syrian Vice President Abdel-Halim Khaddam said in remarks published Sunday. Speaking from his self-imposed exile in France, Khaddam told Lebanon's Al-Mustaqbal daily that Shawkat's house was under security watch and he was banned from traveling.

He said Assad decided to tighten the noose around Shawkat since June 2005, four months after the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri.

Khaddam believed that Assad "benefited" from the assassination of top Hizbullah commander Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus on February 12 to remove Shawkat from his post and appoint his [Assad's] cousin Brigadier General Hafez Makhlouf with the task of taking charge of the investigation into Mughniyeh's killing.

Khaddam stressed that the bomb was planted inside Mughniyeh's car, adding that the assassination of the Hizbullah commander took place in a "tight security area" under Shawkat's control.

Khaddam said that Shawkat, who was head of the probe into Mughniyeh's murder, was removed from his post after declaring that the explosion took place inside the car, an "indication that the murderers were from Syria."


Syria was expected to issue Sunday the results of its probe into Mughniyeh's killing.

"Brigadier General Hafez Makhlouf took over from Assef Shawkat, then they sat wondering who to accuse," Khaddam said.

He said the Syrian regime had attempted to assassinate Mughniyeh through General Ali Mamlouk, head of Syria's General Intelligence Department, "who was personally tasked with this mission."

In the aftermath of Hariri's assassination, Khaddam said that the former premier, to whom Khaddam was considered close, "received many threats" from the Syrian president.

Khaddam's accusations against Assad and his inner circle regarding Hariri assassination also grew more explicit, when he accused Assad directly of plotting for the assassination of Hariri.

Khaddam has lived in Paris since 2005. - The Daily Star