Shihabi goes into exile
6 June 2000

Former Syrian military chief of staff Hikmat Shihabi boarded a flight to Los Angeles at Beirut International Airport and went into exile today after the Lebanese daily Al-Hayat reported leaks by Syrian officials indicating that Shihabi would soon be indicted on charges of embezzling millions of dollars. Syrian Vice-president Abdul Halim Khaddam and former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri personally bid him farewell at the airport.

Senior Syrian military officer found stabbed to death
9 June 2000

Al-Safir (Beirut) reported today that the head of the Syrian military university training, Brigadier Khalil Khodr, was found dead in his apartment four days ago. The report said that he was stabbed 16 times.

France turns up the heat on Rifaat Assad
13 June 2000

The Guardian (London) reported today that French authorities have stepped up their surveillance of Rifaat Assad, the brother of the late Syrian president Hafez Assad, and told him that he will be expelled from the country if he challenges the new regime of Bashar Assad. Other reports have said that French police have been involved in several scuffles with Rifaat's team of 30 bodyguards. Until recently, Rifaat alternated freely between his residences in Paris and Marbella, Spain, but since the death of Assad he has stayed at the latter.

Syrian deputy prime minister arrested
24 June 2000

Salim Yassin, a former Syrian deputy prime minister for economic affairs, was arrested today on charges of corruption stemming from the 1996 purchase of Airbus jetliners for Syria's state-run national air carrier. Yassin "was put under arrest Saturday for the needs of the investigation," an airline official told AFP on condition on anonymity. Former transportation minister Mufid Abdel Karim has also been implicated in connection with the case.

Three Syrian MP's to be tried for stealing public funds
28 June 2000

Syria's economic security court has sent a request to the Syrian ministry of justice to lift the parliamentary immunity of three MP's so that they can be prosecuted on charges of embezzling public funds, Arabic press reports said. The three MPs are Mustafa al-Ayed, the chairman of the Central Federation of Peasants, Muhammad Mayhoub, and Rafik Darwish.