An Assassination, Yes, but Kanaan was the Assassin

As a follow-up to the death of Syrian Interior Minister Ghazi Kanaan, two Syrian officials made notable slips of the tongue in calling Kanaan's grand departure an "assassination" rather than a "suicide."

Perhaps the most amusing aspect of this entire affair was the official Syrian explanation for the "suicide", namely that Kanaan was depressed by Lebanese media campaigns against him. In fact the Lebanese media virtually did not mention Kanaan in recent months, except for a recent report on Lebanon's NTV television station linking him to payoffs by former Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri. I have few doubts that the gist of the report was true, and agree with those who believe it was leaked to the station by the Syrian regime, which was seeking to discredit Kanaan before offing him.

Meanwhile, CNN's Christiane Amanpour has interviewed Bashar Assad, who of course denies all on Hariri.