Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s Cousin Shoots, Kills Bouncer

Syrian opposition websites are reporting that last week, Ihab Muhammad Makhlouf, who is a maternal cousin of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, shot to death a bouncer at the Amia hotel in Damascus.

The bouncer had refused to let him into a private party being held in the hotel’s nightclub.

It was also noted that Syrian authorities were preventing the family of the slain man from filing a complaint, and warning them not to mention the affair to the press.

Source: Akhbar Al-Sharq, Syria, August 25, 2007; www.free-syria.com, August 24, 2007