BEIRUT: An influential relative of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, once infamous for smuggling, has been assassinated in a dispute over control of a key government stronghold, a monitor said on Saturday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said Mohamed al-Assad was shot dead on Friday in Latakia province, the heartland of the president’s Alawite community.

“Mohamed al-Assad, the son of one of the Syrian president’s cousins, was killed by five bullets to the head in the village of Qardaha,” Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said.

Published in Dawn March 15th , 2015

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