Muhammad Suleiman
Encyclopedia
Muhammad Suleiman (b. 1959 – d. August 1, 2008) was a general and Special Presidential Advisor for Arms Procurement and Strategic Weapons to Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad
Bashar al-Assad
Bashar al-Assad is the President of Syria and Regional Secretary of the Ba'ath Party. His father Hafez al-Assad ruled Syria for 29 years until his death in 2000. Al-Assad was elected in 2000, re-elected in 2007, unopposed each time.- Early Life :...

. He may have been assassinated by a sniper in Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

 while walking in the coastal town of Tartus, and the sniper may have escaped by boat.

Perpetrators

According to the As-Safir
As-Safir
As-Safir meaning The Ambassador, is a leading Arabic-language daily newspaper in Lebanon.It was first published on March 26, 1974 as an Arabic political daily....

 newspaper, arrested Mossad
Mossad
The Mossad , short for HaMossad leModi'in uleTafkidim Meyuchadim , is the national intelligence agency of Israel....

 spy Ali Jarrah "testified to have scouted 'certain points' in the coastal town of Tartous in northern Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

," where Suleiman was assassinated. The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...

 reported that Suleiman was assassinated by Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

.

Some reporters speculate that Suleiman was killed at closed range.

A cable released by Wikileaks
Wikileaks
WikiLeaks is an international self-described not-for-profit organisation that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources, news leaks, and whistleblowers. Its website, launched in 2006 under The Sunshine Press organisation, claimed a database of more...

 revealed that France told the U.S. that Suleiman was probably killed as a result of rivalry within the Syrian regime. Maher al-Assad
Maher al-Assad
Maher al-Assad is the brother of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and the commander of the Republican Guard and the army's elite Fourth Armored Division, which together with Syria's secret police form the core of the country's security forces...

, brother of the Syrian president, was likely to have ordered the killing. Furthermore, France said that Suleiman was not killed by a sniper, but in fact gunned down in his car.

Aftermath

According to a U.S. State Department cable published by Wikileaks, Syrian authorities found $80 million in cash in the basement of Suleiman's home. This reportedly upset President Assad, who launched an investigation into how Suleiman obtained that much money.

Sources

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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