Ghazi Kanaan
| Ghazi Kanaan غازي كنعان |
|
|---|---|
| Minister of Interior | |
|
In office 4 October 2004 – 12 October 2005 |
|
| President | Bashar Assad |
| Prime Minister | Muhammad Naji al-Otari |
| Preceded by | Ali Hammoud |
| Succeeded by | Bassam Abdel Majeed |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1942 Bhamra |
| Died | 12 October 2005 (aged 63) Damascus |
| Nationality | Syrian |
| Political party | Syrian Regional Branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party |
| Religion | Alawite |
| Military service | |
| Years of service | 1963-2004 |
| Rank |
 Major general
|
Ghazi Kanaan (1942 – 12 October 2005) (Arabic: غازي كنعان; transliterations vary), also known as Abu Yo'roub, was Syria's Interior Minister from 2004 to 2005, and long-time head of Syria's security apparatus in Lebanon. His violent death during an investigation into the assassination of Rafik Hariri drew international attention.
Ghazi Kanaan was born in 1942 in Bhamra, near Qardaha, the home town of former Syrian president Hafiz Asad. This region, centered on the coastal town of Lattakia, is in heartland Syria's Alawite minority, of which both men were part. Ghazi was a member of the Kalbiyya tribe and a distant relative of Bashar’s mother, Anisa Makhlouf. Kanaan graduated from the Homs Military Academy in 1965.
Kanaan, as a young military officer, pledged allegiance to Hafez Assad, who seized power in 1970. Kanaan participated in the fight against the Israelis on the Golan Heights in the 1970s. He rose in rank to colonel and served as the director of intelligence in of Central Syria (Homs) from 1981 to 1982.
After the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, parts of which were already under Syrian military domination, he was assigned to head the Syrian intelligence in Lebanon in 1982. His term lasted for twenty years until 2002. However, Kanaan did not leave Lebanon until a ceremony was held by then Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri at the prime ministry on 9 October 2003.
During his tenure in Lebanon, Kanaan gained a decisive Syrian influence over Lebanese affairs, and gradually subdued the warring Lebanese militias through a combination of diplomacy, bribery and force. During the 1980s, he developed collaborators with the predominantly Christian and previously anti-Syrian Lebanese Forces (LF) militia, including Elie Hobeika and Samir Geagea. He also became a close confidant of Rafik Hariri. After Israel's withdrawal from its occupation of southern Lebanon in 2000, Kanaan extended Syria's influence there, and backed the Hezbollah movement's takeover of the area.
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