Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Seyassah has reported very disturbing information on the assassination of former MP Antoine Ghanem, including the preparation of the booby trapped car and the execution of the assassination The Al-Seyassah sources in Syria were able to link the assassination of Ghanem, his bodyguards and 3 others to the opening of the Arida and Dabussiya border crossings between Lebanon and Syria on September 17, 2 days before the assassination took place. The Al-Seyassah sources also revealed that the opening of the crossings was to facilitate the entry of the assassins with their equipment and the Mercedes car that was booby trapped at the Syrian intelligence base of Kfarsoussah near Damascus including all the forged documents required. The whole operation was coordinated by Bassem Emad, a Syrian intelligence officer that reports directly to Assef Shawkat, head of the Syrian intelligence and President Bashar el AssadÂ’s brother-in-law.
The assassination was performed by Syrian intelligence agents after detailed monitoring of GhanemÂ’s movements and the roads that he used to use. These agents rented two apartments, one near the residence of Ghanem in Qlei'at and the other near the crime scene in Sin el Fil.The killers also rented a third apartment in Tripoli three months ago using forged documents. The sources revealed that the killers left Lebanon immediately after committing a crime, completely disguised as Syrian workers.
The March 14 leading majority has accused Syria of the murder of Ghanem, but Syria denied any involvement. Al-Seyassah was the first newspaper to reveal the names of the Lebanese generals who were linked to the murder of former PM Rafik Hariri in 2005. All 4 generals are now in jail awaiting trial.