Bashar al-Assad's cousin held over 'road-rage' killing

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-33862133

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Syria's army has arrested a cousin of the President, Bashar al-Assad, after a colonel was shot dead in a traffic dispute, the state news agency says.

Suleiman al-Assad was held in the coastal city of Latakia, a stronghold of the regime.

Khodr al-Salem, the governor of Latakia, said Suleiman al-Assad - the son of the president's first cousin Hilal - was arrested at a farm.

Reports in Syrian media say the colonel was shot dead in front of his children.

The Associated Press news agency said Suleiman al-Assad had been on the run since the murder of Col Hassan al-Sheikh last week. He is the only suspect in the case, the Sana news agency said (in Arabic).

The BBC's Rami Ruhayem, in Beirut, said the murder had led to large protests in Latakia. While protestors chanted slogans supporting the president, they also called for the execution of his cousin.

Latakia is a stronghold of Syria's Alawite community - the Shia heterodox sect to which the Assad family belongs.

The group makes up 12% of the 23 million population, and while there is wide support for the regime in the province, Latakia has seen protests against the regime since the civil war erupted in 2011.