Homs, Syria - The secretary of exiled Hamas leader Khaled Mashaahl has been assassinated in the Syrian city of Homs, a US-based Syrian opposition group said Monday.

The Reform Party of Syria (RPS) said on its website that Hisham al-Labadani was dragged from his car in broad daylight and shot on Thursday.

The website cited "operatives close to the event" as saying that the assassination was a signal that some elements of the Syrian regime of Bashar Assad were sending to Hamas to end its ties with Iran, the Islamist group's main sponsor.

There has been no official confirmation of the report, and the RPS alleged that both Syria and Hamas have tried to keep the shooting quiet for fear of igniting a struggle in Damascus between pro- and anti-Iranian factions in the Syrian government. dpa