Syria's Minister of Interior Gen. Ghazi Kana'an died in his office before noon on Wednesday after committing suicide. "The authorities concerned have been conducting investigations into the incident," SANA reported.
Kana'an , the ex-security chief of Syria in Lebanon, was one of 13 senior Syrian officials, who were investigated by German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis in connection to the murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri earlier this year.
Hours before he died, Kanaan contacted the Beirut Voice of Lebanon radio station and dlivered a statement, concluding with the words: "I believe this is the last statement that I could make." He asked seasoned interviewer 'Wardeh' to pass his comments to other broadcast media.
Kanaan said he was making the statement to 'Wardeh' to deny a report by another Beirut TV network, New TV, which argued late Tuesday that Kanaan admitted to U.N. investigators that he was involved in money extortion and corruption during what he called "my reign of Lebanon."
New TV had reported Kanaan told investigators that he brought the 2000 Lebanese election law that "we tailored to the measurements of Lebanese politicians loyal to Syria."
"Premier Hariri had at the time given me a $10 million check and another $10 million check to General Jamil Sayyed," New TV quoted Kanaan as saying in his testimony. "We were making money from Premier Hariri so how could we possibly kill him and close the flow of his riches." General Sayyed was then the head of Lebanon's General Security Department.
New TV was unmoved by Kanaan's denial, insisting the story was accurate.
In his capacity as the commander of Syrian intelligence in Lebanon, Kanaan, 62, was the main power broker in the country. Since his appointment in 1982 Kanaan has been credited with tightening Syria's grip over the Lebanese government. During the 1990s, Kana'an became Lebanon's de-facto top decision maker in domestic politics. Press reports suggested that during the 2000 Lebanese parliamentary elections, Kana'an appeared to oversee the entire electoral process.
In late 2002, Kana'an was replaced by Rustum Ghazali.
Earlier this summer, the US Treasury Department declared has frozen the bank accounts of Kana'an and Ghazali, stating the two "have directed the Syrian Arab Republic Government's (SARG) military and security presence in Lebanon and/or contributed to the SARG's support for terrorism. Both Ghazali and Kanaan allegedly engaged in a variety of corrupt activities and were reportedly the beneficiaries of corrupt business deals during their respective tenures in Lebanon."
Assad: No role in Hariri death
Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad told CNN on Wednesday his country was not involved with Hariri's death, adding it was impossible for him to have ordered it.
He added that if the UN investigation concludes Syrians were involved, those people would be regarded as "traitors" who would be charged with treason and face either an international court or the Syrian judicial process.
© 2005 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
