"The seizure of power was planned to take place during the meeting of
the Arab League at the end of March in Damascus," Die Welt said on Saturday.
Since the coup attempt, Die Welt said, Assad deposed Chawkat and placed
him under house arrest. Chawkat, who at one point, was endorsed by exiled
Syrian Vice President Abdul Halim Khaddam, has not been seen in public
since.
"More than 100 secret service officers, who worked for Chakwat, are in
detention," Die Welt said.
Still, Chawkat, appointed intelligence chief in 2005, would probably not
be prosecuted for the coup attempt. Die Welt said Assad did not want to harm
his sister, Bushra, married to Chawkat. Syria has denied the newspaper
report.
"Bushra was sent abroad — first to France and then the United Arab
Emirates," Die Welt said.
