Former Syrian prime minister commits suicide

Sunday, May 21, 2000 | 3:01 a.m.

Mahmoud el-Zoubi, 62, shot himself in the head at his home in Dumer outside Damascus, said the officials. He died on the way to a hospital in Damascus, the officials said on condition of anonymity.

El-Zoubi was prime minister from Nov. 1, 1987, until March 7, when he resigned along with his Cabinet amid charges of mismanagement and corruption.

He was sacked from the ruling Baath Party on May 10 after President Hafez Assad decided to have him investigated for corruption, and for harming the national economy during his time in office.

El-Zoubi's dismissal came at a time when Assad's son Bashar is leading a campaign against corruption in Syria as his father presses ahead with promised social and economic reforms.

Last week, the government froze all his assets, pending a trial.

Media is under tight state control in Syria, and it is highly unusual for corruption charges involving top officials to be publicized.

Until he became prime minister, el-Zoubi was parliament speaker from November 1981.

A native of Kherbit Gazaleh village, 75 miles south of Damascus near the Jordanian border, he was considered close to Assad until his downfall. He was replaced as prime minister by Mohammed Mustafa Miro, who was given the task of reviving and modernizing Syria's economy.

El-Zoubi is survived by two sons and a daughter. The sons also are accused of corruption. Both work outside the government.