7 Years since Assassination...The Unknown from Gen. Suleiman’s Life
Abeer Diba
Umm Kamel receives her husband's guests, who came to congratulate them on Army Day. From afar, she notices a deep light at sea, which she thought to be a fishing boat. She sits for a few minutes, as Maj. Gen. Mohammad Suleiman carried his 6 month old son Hamza. He hands him over to her. She goes in to make dinner, and then goes back to sit next to him. He receives a text on his cellphone and appears bewildered.
A few moments later, the Major General places his hands on his head as he tilts it back, and then spits blood. Those present thought he was having a stroke. His wife, Mrs. Rim Suleiman says: "We later found out that three bullets pierced his body, fired by a sniper at sea."
Abu Kamel was Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's senior advisor, and the man of shadows in Syria, responsible for many delicate dossiers, in addition to his essential role in transporting weapons for the resistance in Lebanon, and Gaza in Palestine.
The son of the town of Draykish in the Tartus countryside was one of the few who knew Leader Martyr Haj Imad Mughniyeh - who was assassinated only 6 months before him - up close. This made Zionists wary of him, with one CIA official frankly stating that the goal of the assassination was not revenge, but rather to "prevent any future operations."
The Last Supper
Seven years have passes since the Major General was sitting in his house at the "Golden Sands Resort" in Tartus, having his last supper on August 1st 2008 with his wife, mother, and some friends, to commemorate Army Day. The martyr sat before the sea, with his wife and the daughter of the governor of Deir al-Zour sitting beside him.
Mrs. Suleiman relates to al-AhedNews what happened the moment the martyr was assassinated: "the time was 9:45 when Major General Suleiman tilted his head back, raising his hands over his head, spitting blood. We never heard the bullet. For a second we thought he had a stroke or something, but we later learned that three sniper bullets pierced his body at the head, neck, and waist."
Mrs. Suleiman, who carries her husband's last name, adds: "I met President Assad, and he expressed his deep sadness for the loss of my husband, and assured me that the perpetrators will pay for it, however long it may take." She goes on to say "the state never stopped caring for the assassination since Day One, and kept the investigation covert. The state also never stopped caring for the martyr's family and children."
At the time, Syrian authorities dealt with the assassination with a calmness and silence that was characteristic of Syrian security forces in previous and later operations. The martyr's name - because of the delicateness of his work - did not appear on Syrian media then, and while President Assad was visiting Tehran, his advisor Dr. Buthayna Shaaban confirmed the martyr's assassination in Tartus without adding further details.
A memorial service for the seventh anniversary of his martyrdom was held in his town of Draykish, attended by MP Nawaf al-Moussawi, representing Hizbullah, and a number of other senior Lebanese, Syrian, and Iranian political figures.
Moussawi affirmed the martyr's exceptional role in the Resistance axis, saying that Hizbullah knew from the onset that "Israel" was behind the assassination before any findings or leaks, a matter later proven by investigations.
Back at the Forefront
The case of Major General Suleiman's assassination remained out of the limelight, much alike his work, until "The Intercept" recently leaked an NSA document confirming "Israel's" responsibility for the assassination, which isn't new anyway as Hizbullah Secretary General His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had accused it of the assassination in an interview with Lebanese Daily al-Akhbar.
The document refuted any talk of liquidation within the state and Hizbullah, confirming that an "Israeli" navy commando unit executed the assassination by the Tartus coast, returning after completing the operation.
Al-Manar at the Scene of the Crime
Al-Manar TV recently aired a report on the Major General's assassination, prepared by its correspondent in Syria Soumar Hatem, who visited the scene of the crime, representing the first media outlet to enter the premises after the operation.
"The topic wasn't new, but the leaked document further pushed me to prepare a report on the subject," says Hatem, adding that "the matter needed guts, because the subject is totally vague, so I asked the channel's administration for approval on the subject as usual, and it wasn't long before I got it."
Hatem goes on, telling al-Ahed news: "I called Mrs. Rim, whom I could feel was happy because she thought the time had come for her husband to get his justice. Our appointment was supposed to be on a Friday, but she postponed it for Saturday. To my great surprise, she travel from Tartus to Damascus and back to bring the pictures I had requested of her. I then felt how strongly she carries her cause, she who kept her husband's blood on the chair he sat on last."
Hatem continues "Mrs. Suleiman does not hide her discontent with attempts to belittle Major General Suleiman, and was very cooperative with us during filming. I was very careful that the report be airtight, and watched it repeatedly before I sent it, as I consider this report to be an important landmark in my career, and in support of my work in Resistance media."
Very few Syrian knew the name of Martyr Major General Mohammad Suleiman's and his exceptional role, prior to his martyrdom, as his work was delicate, and he was careful and insistent on remaining in the shadows, away from plain sight. At the time, this pushed some Arab new outlets report on his assassination to belittle his important role on the one hand, and divert attention from the Zionists' hand in the assassination on the other.
What was later revealed showed a small portion of high level of coordination between Syria and Hizbullah, who represent the Resistance axis in the region, which today faces feeble attempts to subdue and weaken it.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
