"Syria hints at 'Israel's connection' in Lebanese general's killing"
"Israel and its allies in Lebanon stood to benefit from the crime through the killing of a national Lebanese figure, who held the Lebanese army's belief, supported the resistance (against Israel), worked for a united Lebanon and rejected its division, the source said.
He noted that Syria held the Lebanese military establishment in high esteem and said the army had good relations with Lebanon's powers.
SANA alleged that Israel had blown up Army Brigadier General Francois al-Hajj's car in south of Lebanon in 1976 after he refused to cooperate with a pro-Israeli militia there.
Israel also threatened al-Hajj during the war on Lebanon in 2006, the news agency claimed.
An army source said al-Hajj was a candidate to replace Army Commander General Michel Suleiman, whom the ruling coalition and opposition have chosen as Lebanon's next president.
Al-Hajj had led the more than three-month-long military operation in northern Lebanon during the summer that pitted the Lebanese Army against the Muslim fundamentalist movement Fatah al-Islam, the military source said.
He also led the Lebanese army during its deployment in southern Lebanon, alongside the beefed-up United Nations peacekeeping force UNIFIL following the 33-day Israeli war on Lebanon, in accordance with UN resolution 1701 which imposed a ceasefire after the war.
The assassination of Rafik Hariri, Lebanon's former prime minister, led to the withdrawal of Syria's troops from the country in April 2005."
And CUI BONO, readers?
