BEIJING, Oct. 13 -- Syrian Interior Minister Ghazi Kanaan committed suicide in his office Wednesday night, three weeks after being questioned by a UN team investigating the February killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Ghazi Kanaan was appointed interior minister last October in a cabinet reshuffle. (Photo: Xinhua/Reuters)

    The Syrian government issued a statement mourning General Kanaan's death but gave no other details. 

    "Until now, we don't know the reason but our investigation will tell us quickly," Information Minister Mahdi Dakhl-Allah told Al Jazeera television.

    News agency Agence France-Presse quoted an aide, General Walid Abaza, saying: "General Kanaan left his office to go home, then he came back after three-quarters of an hour, took a gun from the drawer and fired a bullet into his mouth."

    The UN's chief investigator is expected to issue his report to the Security Council next week on the inquiry into the assassination of  Hariri.

    Hariri was killed in a massive car bombing in Beirut in February, which has sparked massive anti-Syrian protests and led to Syrian troops' withdrawal from Lebanon in late April after 29 years of military presence.

    Many Lebanese blamed Syria and its Lebanese allies for Hariri's assassination, but Damascus has denied any role.

    Syrian President Bashar al-Assad denied on Wednesday that his country played any role in the assassination.

    Many Lebanese say Syria ordered the killing but Damascus has repeatedly denied any links, according to a report posted on News.com.au.

    Three hours before the news broke, General Kanaan spoke to a Beirut radio station, denying reports in Lebanese media that he showed the UN investigators photocopies of cheques paid to him by the late Hariri. Enditem

    
(Agencies)