A top Syrian military officer and right hand man to President Bashar al-Assad was assassinated at an upscale seaside resort over the weekend, prompting speculation over a rift within the Damascus regime over its relations with Iran, Israel and Lebanese Hizbollah.

The body of General Mohammed Suleiman was discovered at the resort in the northern port city of Tartous on Friday. His death and burial on Sunday went unreported in the Syrian media but reports elsewhere said that he had been shot by a sniper positioned on a yacht offshore.

The Saudi-owned Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, describing Suleiman as Assad's "right hand man" and top security adviser, quoted unnamed Syrian sources as saying that he was shot with four bullets that came from the direction of the sea.

Suleiman, 49, was a shadowy figure responsible for "sensitive security files" in the Syrian president's office and in charge of the financing and reform of the Syrian army, one source told the London based newspaper.

Other Syrian sources,quoted on the website of exiled Syrian dissident Abdul-Halim Khaddam and in the Jordan based news website Al-Bawaba claimed that Suleiman handled sensitive intelligence files, and served as Syria's "liaison officer" with the Lebanese militant Hezbollah movement.

Amid speculation that the sniper was an Israeli, Sky News reported that Israel had denied any connection to the killing

"To the best of my knowledge we didn't do it," an Israeli source told Sky News. "Look, it's outside the rules. Of course, assassinations take place, but to hit a general in his own country is close to an act of war and we just don't want a war with Syria. We are busy talking to them."

Other theories center around an internal power struggle between President Assad and military intelligence officials, in part over relations with Iran and Israel.

However a Syrian source speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, dismissed such speculation although he admitted that the Syrian regime was in a "difficult and complicated situation."

Assassinations are rare in Syria and Suleiman’s killing would be the first since Hezbollah military commander Imad Moughniyah was assassinated by a car bomb in Damascus in February. The Lebanese militant group accused Israel of being behind that assassination, but the results of the Syrian investigation have not been disclosed.

A funeral service was held on Sunday in Suleiman’s home-town of Driekesh a few miles away from Tartous, according to reports.

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