"neocon-like" Die-Welt: Assef Shawkat staged failed coup against Assad ... and killed Mughniyeh?!

Having been behind so much "mischief", it is bewildering, says a Syrian Official to see (yes) Assef living happy & well in Syria, though perhaps not as involved as before. .... In the closest thing to a german version of a Murdoch outlet, this "old" story, Die-Welt, here

Translation & comment by Josh Landis, in SyriaComment:

SYRIA SQUASHES COUP ATTEMPT, GERMAN NEWSPAPER SAYS

2008-06-06 12:28 (New York)

Berlin (dpa) - A coup plot against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was quietly crushed without the world noticing, the German newspaper Die Welt was set to report Saturday, quoting German and “foreign'' intelligence sources.

It said Syria's military intelligence chief, Assef Shaukat, had plotted to seize power while Assad was hosting an Arab League meeting in Damascus in February. Shaukat, who is an in-law to the president, and 100 intelligence officers had been arrested.

Die Welt said Assad had been tipped off by Imad Mughniyah, a senior member of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah organization in Lebanon.

Mughniyah was killed a few days later in a bomb blast on February 12 in Damascus.

The sources said it was possible that associates of Shaukat had assassinated him in revenge. Releasing the story Friday in advance of going to print, Die Welt said some of the plotters were allegedly linked to violent Islamist groups.

Die Welt said the Syrian embassy in Berlin had rejected the coup story as utterly untrue. Without naming a source, the newspaper said German diplomats were aware of the coup story but had not been able to confirm it as fact.

Landis Comment:

It is hard to know what to make of these rumors that have been circulating for months. Copied below are two March reports by "Stratfor," a Texas based private "intelligence" firm, run by an Israeli, I believe. Both are related to the Die Welt claims. The one common thread is that Asef Shawkat is no longer the head of Military Intelligence in Syria.

I have been reluctant to copy these stories in the past because they seem like such speculation, based on unconfirmed reports. For two years we have been hearing stories that the Asad family is at daggers drawn and ready to kill one another. Never were they true in the past. Invariably they were spread by disreputable sources. Die Welt is not disreputable. We have not seen any sign of Asef Shawkat in months. Also, several people I trust tell me that Asef is no longer the head of Military Intelligence - at least that part of the story seems true.