(AFP) - Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz has welcomed the killing of General Aziz Asbar, head of a Syrian government weapons research centre, who was killed along with his driver when the bomb hit his car on Saturday in the central province of Hama. Asbar headed the Maysaf research centre in Hama, which was hit by Israeli air strikes last month and last September, according to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The New York Times quoted "a senior official from a Middle Eastern intelligence agency" on Monday as saying that Israel was behind the assassination. Katz told Israel Defense Forces Radio, "We don't of course comment on reports of this kind and I'm not going to comment now. I can say that assuming the details of this man's activities are correct and he was engaged in developing chemical weapons and longer-range missiles capable of hitting Israel, I certainly welcome his demise."