Key facts
- Israel has admitted to assassinating Muhammad Suleiman, a senior aide to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in 2008.
- The admission comes from former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in his new book.
- Suleiman was reportedly in charge of the construction and security of a Syrian nuclear facility in Deir Ezzor.
- A UN report confirmed that Syria was overseeing the construction of a nuclear reactor in Deir Ezzor.
- Olmert described the assassination as a targeted shooting of Suleiman on a balcony.
Israel has publicly admitted to the 2008 assassination of Muhammad Suleiman, a senior aide to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, marking the first high-profile admission after years of official silence. The admission comes from former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in his new book.
Suleiman served as a chief military and intelligence aide and was reportedly responsible for the construction and security of a Syrian nuclear facility located in Deir Ezzor. A UN report released recently confirmed that Assad's government had been overseeing the construction of this nuclear reactor.
In an excerpt from his book, Olmert detailed the assassination, stating that soldiers approached Suleiman under the cover of darkness and fired three bullets at him, hitting him in the back of the head. The soldiers then retreated to a boat that picked them up.
The Syrian government had previously blamed Israel for the assassination. The Deir Ezzor nuclear facility was also the target of an Israeli strike in September 2007, during Olmert's tenure as Prime Minister.