LONDON — Tensions are high in Damascus as Syrian special operations forces have
surrounded the office of the nation's military intelligence chief, according to a media report.
The opposition Arab News Network satellite channel, owned by the uncle
of Syrian President Bashar Assad, reported on Wednesday that elite Syrian
troops have laid siege to the office of military intelligence chief Gen.
Assaf Shawkat. The London-based ANN said the siege was meant to pressure
Shawkat to surrender to Syrian authorities and undergo interrogation by
United Nations investigators.
Shawkat is married to Bashar Assad's sister, Bushra and is regarded as the leading suspect in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime
Minister Rafik Hariri.
The ANN report was not confirmed by any other source. ANN, led by
Assad's uncle and deposed vice president Rifat, has been regarded as a
leading media outlet for the Syrian opposition, Middle East Newsline reported.
The report capped a period of rising tension within the Syrian regime in
2005. Last week, Syrian opposition sources said the Assad regime was arming
Alawi militias to prepare for the prospect of a civil war with the majority
Sunni community.
In April 2005, Syrian opposition sources asserted that elite troops
attacked air force facilities as part of fighting between forces loyal to
Assad and those of a group believed led by the late Interior Ministry Ghazi
Kanaan. In October, Kanaan was found dead of a gunshot wound which the
regime said marked a successful suicide attempt.
On Thursday, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Walid Mualem said Damascus
was prepared to cooperate with the UN probe of Hariri's death. Mualem, who
did not cite Shawkat, said the Assad regime would enable UN investigators
question senior Syrian officials.
