Some four days ago, Hisham al-Labadani, secretary to Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Mash'al, was dragged from his car and shot dead in daylight in the city of Homs.
Operatives close to the event told Reform Syria that the assassination is a signal from a group in the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad to Hamas for its continued cooperation with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The group, led by Mohammad Nassif Kheir Bek, has been promoting rapprochement with the West against the entrenched supporters of Iranian influence in Syria who have lately gained key positions.
Although the assassination took place four days ago, both the Syrian regime and Hamas have kept silent about the incident, for fear of unleashing the Iranian camp inside the Assad regime against the pro-West camp.
Source: Reform Syria, September 15, 2008
