ISRAEL has denied any involvement in the assassination of a leading Syrian general close to the President, Bashar al-Assad.
A killer using a silenced weapon shot 49-year-old Mohammed Suleiman in the head and neck last Friday on a beach at the al-Rimal al-Zahabiyeh resort near Tartous. Like other privileged Syrians, General Suleiman owned a chalet there.
It is believed a sniper aboard a yacht killed General Suleiman, who was described by local news reports as a "right-hand man" to Mr Assad, handling defence and security issues for the President.
Israeli and Syrian opposition sources said General Suleiman had worked as "liaison" with Hezbollah, Israel's sworn enemy. This has led to speculation that the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad may have been responsible for his murder.
Hezbollah has previously accused Mossad of the assassination of the Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh in February, but the results of a Syrian investigation have never been disclosed.
An Israeli Government spokesman Mark Regev, when asked about Israeli involvement in the killing, said: "The Israeli Government has neither any direct knowledge nor any comment on this incident."
Eyal Zisser, the author of a recent biography of Mr Assad, Commanding Syria: Bashar al-Assad and the First Years in Power , told the Herald several countries had reason to want General Suleiman out of the way.
"This was one of Assad's top advisers, so it's very surprising that someone could get to him," Professor Zisser said.
"It's a blow for Assad, it undermines his authority and I would expect this will have some serious ripple effects within Syria and possibly outside Syria."
Professor Zisser said that, given Suleiman's close involvement with Hezbollah and Syria's history of interference in Lebanese politics, it was conceivable Lebanese agents were behind Friday's murder.
"This general, he knew all the bad guys so there is motive," he said. "But it's my view that Israel has only been involved in targeted assassinations involving the actual commanders of terrorist operations in the field. This was not such a man."
He said another reason not to suspect Israel was that Syria and Israel were in the middle of meaningful discussions on settling a peace accord.
Andrew Tabler, a Damascus political analyst, tied the assassination to strains over Syria's relations with Iran and Damascus's indirect talks with Israel.
With Guardian News & Media