Lebanon Holds Relatives over Syria Official's Slaying

Lebanon's security forces have detained two relatives of the wife of a murdered Syrian official on suspicion they were involved in his killing, a security source told AFP Saturday.

Mohammad Darrar Jammo, a strong supporter of Syrian President Bashar Assad, was gunned down at his home by unknown attackers early on Wednesday in what initially was thought to be a political assassination.

Lebanon's army however later ruled out a political assassination while a judicial source told AFP "family reasons" were behind the killing.

The security source on Saturday confirmed that suspicion had fallen on members of the family of Jammo's Lebanese wife, Siham Younis.

"Lebanon's military intelligence is questioning Badie Younis, who is the brother of ... Siham, as well as her nephew Ali Khalil, over suspicion that they participated in the murder," the source said.

Jammo, a Syrian who had lived in Lebanon for 25 years, was a pro-Assad political commentator who often appeared on Lebanese television.

Lebanese media said Jamo's funeral was held Friday in Latakia, on Syria's Mediterranean coast.

Speaking to Lebanese television channel Al-Jadeed, Jammo's wife denied any connection to the killing.

"What's going on?... He's been my husband for 20 years," Younis told the broadcaster.

She said she had been interrogated by the Lebanese security forces before traveling to Syria for her husband's funeral.

Asked whether there was any chance her brother or nephew were behind the murder, she said: "Whoever the perpetrator is, he should be punished."

Syrian state news agency SANA had initially blamed Jammo's killing on "terrorists", using the Damascus regime's terms for rebels who are fighting Assad's forces.