US Files: ’Israel’ Assassinated Top Syrian General

Local Editor

"Israel" is responsible for the 2008 murder of a top security aide of Syrian President Bashar Assad, according to secret US intelligence files.

Brigadier General Mohammed Suleiman was shot in the head and neck on August 1, 2008 by a small team of "Israeli" commandos as he enjoyed a dinner party at his seaside home on the Syrian coast, said The Intercept website, citing the leaked files.

The "Israeli" military team then escaped by sea.

"The internal National Security Agency document, provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, is the first official confirmation that the assassination of Suleiman was an "Israeli" military operation," said the website.

The revelation "ends speculation that an internal dispute within the Syrian government led to his death," it added.

The NSA's internal version of Wikipedia, "Intellipedia," described the assassination near the port town of Tartus as the "first known instance of "Israel" targeting a legitimate government official," according to The Intercept.

It cited three former US intelligence officers as saying that the document's classification markings indicated that the NSA learned of the assassination through surveillance.

In 2010, US diplomatic cables leaked by WikiLeaks and published by the Guardian newspaper said that Syria suspected Israel of the murder.

The killing of Suleiman was kept secret initially by Syrian authorities and the "Israeli" government denied involvement.

His assassination came 11 months after an "Israeli" air strike deep inside the Syrian territory.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team