 DAMASCUS - Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq Al Shara on Thursday accused the media of having had a hand in the suicide of interior minister Ghazi Kanaan. âCertain media as well as unjust leaks from the commission of inquiry into the killing of Rafiq Hariri concerning events that didnât take place contributed to killing General Ghazi Kanaan,â Shara told journalists.
Hours before his death on Wednesday, Kanaan telephoned a Lebanese radio station to make a âfinal declarationâ, denying unsubstantiated corruption allegations and Syriaâs involvement in former Lebanese premier Haririâs murder.
| "Lies! All lies! And I'm despressed as hell about them!" |
âThere are media that donât want to learn any lessons. Some of them contributed to the killing of Ghazi Kanaan,â Shara reiterated, asking âhow can these media continue to accuse Syriaâ over Haririâs killing.
| It's easy. And wait til you see what we have on you ... |
âKanaan complained about accusations made by certain media. This was clear before his suicide,â he said, comparing allegations in the media to âbulletsâ.
The German magistrate heading a UN probe into Haririâs murder, Detlev Mehlis, âhas promised us that he will deny the (inaccurate) information concerning his meetings with Syrian officialsâ, Shara said.
| And he's been pretty quiet so far ... |
Kanaanâs final phone call was in response to a report by Lebanonâs NTV that he had told Mehlis that he received tens of millions of dollars to push through an electoral law that allowed Hariri to win parliamentary elections in 2000.
Kanaan said media reports since Haririâs February murder had wronged both himself and the former Lebanese premier, whose killing was widely blamed on Syria despite its repeated denials. âAs for my testimony, light was shed on the period when I served in Lebanon and I spoke about everything that I was asked,â he said, adding that the commission had the minutes of the interview that backed his own account. âIf we had benefited so much from Rafiq Hariri, I donât understand how we could have killed him,â he said.
| Sorta answers itself, doesn't it ... |
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