Syria National Security Chief Dies of Wounds, State Funerals Held for Slain Officials
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
General Hisham Ikhtiyar, the head of Syrian national security wounded in a Damascus bomb blast that killed three senior officials, died of his wounds on Friday, state television announced, as state funerals were held in Damascus for the three top officials who died on Wednesday.
"The leadership of the (ruling) Baath party offers its condolences to the people on the death of the comrade, General Hisham Ikhtiyar, chief of national security, who succumbed to his wounds before noon," the broadcaster said.
Ikhtiyar was wounded along with Interior Minister Mohammed al-Shaar in the Wednesday bombing at National Security headquarters, which was claimed by the rebel Free Syrian Army.
There was still no official word on Shaar's condition, but the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights earlier said it was "unstable."
Defense Minister General Daoud Rajha, Assad's brother-in-law Assef Shawkat and General Hassan Turkmani, head of the regime's crisis cell on the uprising, were all killed in the explosion.
Ikhtiar, aged 71, was a key figure in the Assad regime's repression of an uprising that erupted last year and has claimed more than 17,000 lives.
On May 20, he and a number of other senior officials survived an attempt to poison him. Three days later, he was included in a new list of people on which the European Union imposed sanctions.
A state funeral was held for Rajha, Shawkat and Turkmani in Damascus on Friday ahead of their burials in their native provinces, the official SANA news agency reported, adding that Vice President Farouq al-Sharaa had attended but not Assad himself.
20 July 2012, 13:48
020
Another one bites the dust... and another one gone and another one gone... another one bites the dust...
20 July 2012, 14:05
111
because he happens to be a shia.
can you deny it?
reminding you may be painful to you consciousness and reason of existence, but not to the families of the thousands who dies at his hand.
20 July 2012, 14:07
010
انا حاسس انه مش رح يضل منهم حد يخبر عن يلي عملوه بلبنان, نظام عم ينظف حاله. الله يستر.
20 July 2012, 14:53
112
a thug you are and a thug you will remain. most probably you will go away when the shabiha finally disappear from Lebanon.
and it is coming....
20 July 2012, 15:19
03
c'était prévu, et ce n'est qu'une question de temps!
l terikh bi2oul enno l sawra mostamerra w 7ekem l Assad 2ila zawel.
bass please 3mello ma3rouf ya jame3a, Din w Ta2ifit hodoli l mojrimnin ma2ila 2ahamyi, fa bala 7azeziyet ta2ifiyi.
Hodi mojrmin ma 3endoun la ta2ifi w la din!
20 July 2012, 15:34
07
Justice for all the Lebanese people who lost loved ones cause of the Syrian regim.Bashar ya dog what goes around comes around ..
20 July 2012, 15:35
27
I'm telling you folks this idiot aka BSThrower speaks for all that belong/worship HA.....in manner that commends murders/killing/torture & suppression. Simply regressed people that froze in time.
20 July 2012, 15:48
18
The more the merrier...Let them play poker in hell..Assad and Mahar next..GO FSA...
20 July 2012, 15:49
43
Hey FT I am almost a 100% supporter of M14 but I really do think you make sense sometimes. I am new to Lebanese politics but I am starting to think the M8 and M14 are not the answers. I think if we can meet at M11 we would all be much happier lol. Thank god that guy is gone but I would have preferred they all suffered in prison for the remainder of there lives. I am Lebanesse Australian and someday I hope we can finally open our eyes and realise that as bad as these guys are we are all fighting for a fair and diplomatic society and we get nothing out of them being blown up.
21 July 2012, 21:19
10
You still got thumbs down. I am sure these people vote for their leaders the same way. One list for all. Your comments should please anyone who cares about lebanon. This is the reason will never change. People have to change first, but all of them are stamps.
20 July 2012, 15:49
05
I don't want this in Lebanon or anywhere in the world to be the answer to solve problems but I understand our strong Syrian brothers and sisters have no other choice. I hope Bashar's time is up and I hope it is one of the many changes the region needs. We have the most beautiful culture in the world but unfortunately we have never had the opportunity to prosper from it. Hezbollah could really help the middle east if they would just drop there arm's and become the one thing Iran could never be with the current regime and that is a connection between the Sunni's,Shiites, Christians and the world. Congrats on Ramadan all my Muslim brothers and lets hope our Sunni's, shiite's, Druze, Maronite, Jew and any other religious faction can one day live in peace.
20 July 2012, 15:57
06
Well said T. Especially the last sentence. As to HA....I'm sorry but they are one the same as Iran. That will not change but what you wrote sure sounded good :-)
20 July 2012, 16:11
05
Thanks Sami. The last sentence is just a hope that they would be the connection because I honestly don't see much hope anywhere else. I think the infrastructure outside of the weapons could be utilised but the mindset and possibly the hierarchy needs a change.
20 July 2012, 16:08
06
Got banned from tayyar forum because i said mabrouknfor the killing of the butchers!! Unbeleivable
20 July 2012, 17:17
01
It's so hard to be diplomatic, if my mother, father, brother or sister died because of the Syrian regime I would want them all dead. I just think our problem starts there, we are the most passionate and loving people in the world but we have to realise violence is never the answer. We need to face them with our hand's bound together so that they know, we don't give a sh**, we are one no matter what religion or country we are from we all want to live in peace without the worry that any day we could be killed. Especially if its a cause that does not involve us 1 little bit.
20 July 2012, 19:33
05
"When do we get to live and send our kids to school and start families and be human?"
When that question is answered there will be peace for Lebanon and the whole of the Middle East.
20 July 2012, 20:48
01
I am lucky enough that my parents left Lebanon before I was born but the problem is there will always be an attachment that will never go away. I love Lebanon, Why??? I don't know maybe because it's my blood. I can't explain the attachment in words but I have never felt what the Lebanese on the ground feel. I just hope 1 day that the people with the same thoughts as us are able to control the country and make it what it was always destined to be. How many countries in the world have Muslim and Christian population willing to live together. I was in a taxi in Sydney once and I asked the driver are you Lebanese and he said 'Yes' I asked him are you Muslim or Christian? And I will never forget his answer he said, " you know when I was in Lebanon, nobody asked me that question, nobody cared, we were all brother" I will never forget that.
20 July 2012, 22:01
00
Where is Nassy to glorify this killer and ignore the Lebanese that he killed?
