BEIRUT, Lebanon, October 13 (Lebanonwire) -- “He was a brave man” Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat said of Syrian interior minister and former strongman in Lebanon for 20 years, Ghazi Kanaan, who was buried Thursday 350 kilometers northwest of Damascus in Bhamra, amid swirling questions over his reported suicide.

An official Syrian investigation led by general prosecutor Mohammad Marwan hastily showed that Kanaan, 63, shot himself in the mouth Wednesday with his own gun, a .38 caliber Smith and Wesson, following an examination of the body and finger prints as well as testimony from ministry employees, including senior aide General Walid Abaza.

No more than 200 people attended the funeral, which was marked by the absence of Syria's national flag around Kanaan' coffin.

Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk AL Sharaa said today that Detlev Mehlis, the UN lead investigator into the Rafik Hariri murder had promised the Syrians he would deny all the meetings that had not taken place, “hoping this would put to rest all the unfair allegations made by a Lebanese TV stations the night before Kanaan died.”

During a press conference in Mukhtara this morning, Jumblat meanwhile offered words of praise for Kanaan saying “he did good by committing suicide if he took responsibility for the Hariri murder or if he felt that his dignity was assaulted.”

“I will pay my tribute to Kanaan as I owe it to history to document this man’s contributions to Lebanon,” Jumblat said, “knowing that many might disagree with it.”

Jumblat described Kanaan as a military man who worked hand in hand with Lebanese resistance forces against a massive Israeli scheme in the area, including one that crystallized into the May 17th agreement. “He also helped put an end to widespread destructive militia activity in Beirut, and was a vital element leading to the Taif Accord and eventual national peace in 1990, which brought about an end to hostilities and united the army,” Jumblat said.

Jumblat said he experienced a tense period with Kanaan when President Emile Lahoud was elected and later when the late Hariri was forced to abandon his post, “but he nevertheless played an important role reconciling all the parties on the political scene at the time.” Jumblat refrained from answering journalists’ questions.

In turn, Former Lebanese Ambassador to the US Addallah Bou Habib told LBC that Syria has three years left to deal with US President George W. Bush. “France and the US are in agreement to exert a strong pressure on Syria using Lebanon as a springboard,” Bou Habib told the station this morning, adding “Kanaan had sponsored Syria’s slow rise to power in Lebanon and the distribution of power sharing agreements between Syria, Jumblat, Hariri and Speaker Nabih Berri.”

Bou Habib downplayed Syrian reports that Kanaan committed suicide because he felt “down” about this region’s state of affairs saying, “the man knew how to handle the media and he was strong.”

Bou Habib said that if the UN report comes favorable to Syria, then the US will devise a new strategy to continue pressuring the country.

For his part, Hezbollah’s Deputy Secretary General Naim Qasem said during a Ramadan feast that the US is trying to find any opening to see UN 1559 implemented. “Did you notice how the Americans have used the Mehlis report to intensify its pressure on Syria?” Qasem asked, adding, “We should let the UN report take its natural course, which will then determine who’s at fault and political life would continue without anyone abusing the situation,” Qasem said.

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