Syrian Top General Shot By Rebel Snipers

BEIRUT, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Rebel
snipers killed a top-ranking general
in Syrian military intelligence on
Thursday, state television and
opposition activists said.
State TV said General Jama'a Jama'a
was shot dead in the eastern city of
Deir al-Zor, which is in a province
largely held by opposition forces
trying to topple President Bashar al-
Assad.
The Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights, an anti-Assad monitoring
group, said Jama'a was a member of
Assad's inner circle and one of Syria's
most prominent military figures.
"General Jama'a Jama'a has been
martyred while carrying out his
national duty of defending Syria and
its people and pursuing terrorists in
Deir al-Zor," a statement on Syria TV
said.
The Britain-based Observatory, which
has a network of activists across
Syria, said snipers shot Jama'a in the
midst of a battle with rebel units that
it said included some forces linked to
al Qaeda.
According to the Observatory, Jama'a
was investigated for a suspected role
in the assassination of the Lebanese
statesman Rafik Hariri in 2005.
Many blamed the Beirut car bombing
that killed Hariri on Assad's
government and the Lebanese
militant group Hezbollah, which is
allied to Assad and is now fighting
alongside him in Syria against the
rebels.
Syria's conflict began two and a half
years ago as protests against four
decades of Assad family rule that
degenerated into a bloody civil war.
More than 100,000 people have died
in the violence.