Syrian intelligence chief killed

A senior Military Intelligence officer has been killed in eastern Syria, state media and activists say.
State television reported on Thursday that Gen. Jamaa Jamaa had died while “carrying out his national duties” and “pursuing terrorists” in Deir al-Zour.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said he was shot by a sniper during clashes between government and rebel forces in the city’s Rashdiya district.
Gen. Jamaa was close to President Bashar al-Assad, the United Kingdom-based group added.
BBC reports that he was commander of Syrian Military Intelligence’s headquarters in Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, when former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was assassinated there in 2005.
Gen. Jamaa was questioned as part of a United Nations inquiry into the killing after the Syrian withdrawal. Damascus has always denied any involvement, although five members of the allied Lebanese Shia Islamist group Hezbollah have been indicted.
In 2006, the United States Treasury named Gen. Jamaa as a Specially Designated National, saying he had “significantly contributed to the Syrian government’s military and security presence in Lebanon.”
Al-Arabiya TV reported that at the time of his death Gen. Jamaa was head of Military Intelligence in Deir al-Zour province, and was one of the most powerful security officials in the country.
The Aisha bin al-Sadiq Brigade said one of its fighters had shot him.