Syria has long allowed Hamas to operate offices in Damascus, but in recent
months, the Palestinian group has quietly moved most of its operations
elsewhere as an uprising that is spiralling into civil war has rocked the
country.
Local Coordination Committees, made up of anti-regime activists on the ground
in Syria, accused the regime of President Bashar al-Assad and his
militiamen, known as shabiha, of being behind Ghannaja’s assassination,
claiming that he was “tortured to death”.
“He was visiting Syria and nobody knew he was in the country apart from
the security services who gave him permission to enter,” said Hifawi
Mohamed, a member of the LCC in the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmuk in
Damascus.
“The way the body was mutilated and the attempt to burn the house are all
methods that point to the involvement of the security forces” Mr
Mohamed told AFP.
Source: AFP