The Syrian authorities say they are investigating the apparent suicide of the country's Interior Minister, Ghazi Kanaan.
From 1982 to 2002 General Kanaan was the head of Syrian security in Lebanon.
A few weeks ago, he was questioned by the United Nations team investigating the assassination of the former Lebanese Prime Minister, Rafik al Hariri, in Beirut last February.
Yesterday Mr Kanaan gave an interview to a Lebanese radio station a few hours before he was found dead. At the time he said it might be the last statement he would ever make.
