Syria’s envoy rules out army’s role in shooting Shaaban

The Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul Karim Ali said on Friday the Syrian army could not have been behind the shooting of the New ( Al Jadeed) TV crew.

Despite ruling out Syrian army’s role in the incident he said that Damascus is serious in its investigation to uncover the truth behind the killing of al-Jadeed television cameraman Ali Shaaban.

Ali made the statements after offering his condolences to the Shaaban family.

Ali stressed that “The shooting from the Syrian side of the border harms the Syrians, as well as the Lebanese.”

“Lebanon and Syria are one and therefore whoever wants to create strife is targeting these two countries and the entire region,” Ali added and cautioned about jumping to conclusions regarding the incident

Shaaban was reportedly shot in the heart . Forty bullets reportedly hit his car and that of his fellow crew at Wadi Khaled in northern Lebanon. The heavy gunfire reportedly came from the Syrian side of the border as the Al Jadeed team was filming a report in the area .

Al Jadeed (New ) TV reporter Hussein Khreis and cameraman Abdul Tabaja were also wounded in the attack.

Al Jadeed owner Tahseen Khayyat told the station that the Syrian army attack was “deliberate and was not an accident,” stressing that “the vast number of bullets that riddled the car confirm that , adding ” we do not need at all an investigation from the Syrian side on this subject ”

In an interview with the channel Khayat said “we received many threats from the Syrian regime, but we will not give in, and will remain behind the truth .”

Khreis told the channel: “If you see the car you would think it was in a war zone,”