Khaddam: Assef Shawkat Under House Arrest

by **Admin** Mon Apr 07, 2008 2:36 am

Maj.
Gen. Assef Shawkat, head of Syria's military intelligence and President
Bashar al-Assad's brother-in-law, is under house arrest, former Syrian
Vice President Abdul Halim Khaddam said in remarks published Sunday.

Speaking
from his self-imposed exile in France, Khaddam said Shawkat's house is
under security watch and he is 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 Assad "benefited" from the assassination of top Hizbullah
commander Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus Feb. 12 to remove Shawkat from his
post and appoint his cousin Brig. Gen. Hafez Makhlouf with the task of
taking charge of Mughniyeh's probe.

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

He
said 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."

"Brig. Gen. 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
Gen. Ali Mamlouk, head of Syria's General Intelligence Department, "who
was personally tasked with this mission."