Al-Assad: any Syrian involved in Hariri assassination is traitor

The Syrian President Bashar al-Assad denied that Syria has any relations to the assassination of the former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri, but he said that if the international investigation proves the involvement of Syrians in the operation, then such Syrians will be considered traitors and will be punished strongly.

CNN reported Al-Assad's statements, statements that came before the announcement of the suicide of the Syrian minister of interior and former chief of Syrian military intelligence in Lebanon, Ghazi Kanaan.

CNN said that al-Assad's statements were made before the suicide operation and quoted the Syrian president as saying that the Syrians, if they are proved to be involved in al-Hariri assassination, "they might be treated before the Syrian judiciary or before an international court."

The Syrian government eulogized its minister of interior who committed suicide in his office on Wednesday, and said it opened an investigation to know the conditions and implications of the incident.

Though the Syrian government did not announce details of the suicide and its implications, the director of Kanaan's office said that the Syrian official committed suicide by firing bullets in his mouth.