This is a major development since the report of UN chief investigator is not out yet.

Reporter Warda of Voice of Lebanon interviewed Kanaan today. During the interview he denied any involvement in the assassination of Rafik Hariri and criticized New TVs (Lebanese local channel) report of last night which hinted that Syria will be indicted in Mehlis report. The interview sounded more like a speech than a question and answer session. He sounded as if he was reading all what he was saying . His last sentence was: I will not call any other channel with this information and named all the Lebanese channels. He went on to say "this is the last you will hear from me, I will not be calling again."

The news about his suicide will be a big blow to the UN investigating commission, since he must have know a lot about what went on in Lebanon and who is behind Hariri's assassination. Some political analysts are speculating that Kannan was killed to use him as the scapegoat and to hide the truth about who really killed Hariri.

Here is another update:

Syria's official news agency SANA reported that Interior Minister Ghazi Kanaan, an army general who ran formerly Syria's intelligence operation in Lebanon, committed suicide in his office on Wednesday.

He died two weeks after being interviewed by UN officials investigating the death of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, who was blown up by a truck bomb in Beirut on 14 February.

Kanaan, who was aged about 62, was Syria's chief of military intelligence in Lebanon from 1982 to 2002.

He was recalled to Damascus to become the government's director of political security and was appointed Interior Minister in 2004.

On 30 June, the US government accused Kanaan of supporting terrorism and ordered his assets to be frozen, along with those of Rustum Ghazali, the man who succeeded him as Syria's intelligence supremo in Lebanon.

US Treasury Secretary John Snow said in a statement at the time that both men were "bad actors supporting Syria's efforts to destabilize its neighbors."

SANA gave no details of how or why Kanaan killed himself.

"The cabinet announces the death of Interior Minister Ghazi Kanaan in his office at the beginning of the afternoon," it said in a statement. "The relevant authorities are investigating," it added.

More details will follow
Sources: Local TV channels, Reuters