Damascus/Cairo - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has removed his brother-in-law Asef Shawkat, suspected of involvement in the assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri, from his post as a director of military intelligence, the Syrian website All4Syria.info reported Friday. Shawkat, married to al-Assad's sister Bushra, has been the director of the military intelligence since February 14, 2005, the website said, the same day as Hariri was killed.
Shawkat, who has long been seen as one of the strongmen of the Syrian regime, has instead been appointed as the deputy chief of staff of the army.
Hariri was killed in a massive bomb blast in Beirut on February 14, 2005 along with 20 other people. His killing was widely blamed on Syria but Damascus has denied any links with the assassination.
In 2005 Shawkat was named in a leaked draft version of a UN report into the Hariri killing, during an investigation conducted by German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis.
