Former Syrian vice president Abd Al-Halim Khaddam, who is currently a leader of the exiled Syrian opposition, said that Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad has exploited the assassination of senior Hizbullah commander Imad Mughniya to strike at the status of Syrian military intelligence chief Gen. Asaf Shokat.

He said that Shokat was under house arrest with a guard, and that interior security head Amid Khafez Makhlouf had been appointed to investigate the assassination in his stead.

At the same time, the Syrian opposition website Al-Haqiqa reported that Al-Assad had appointed Ali Younes head of Syrian military intelligence instead of Shokat.

Sources: Al-Mustaqbal, Lebanon; Syriatruth.org, April 6, 2008