A famous Lebanese publisher and vocal critic of Shiite terrorist group Hezbollah was found shot dead in his car Thursday morning with several bullets in his body at close range, security and forensic officials said.
Lokman Slim, a 58-year-old Shiite political activist and researcher, had been missing for hours since late Wednesday and his family submitted social media messages to look for him.
He was visiting friends in a southern city and was expected back in Beirut the same day.
Security forces found a narrow car on a country road near the southern town of Addoussieh.
A forensic crown on the scene said he had a narrow shot in the chest, head and neck with four bullets that he killed on the spot. Blood was splattered over the passenger seat of a rented car, where his body appeared to have fallen.
A security official at the scene said ID, a phone and a shotgun were missing. Officers spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with regulations.
An Addoussieh resident said the car was found on the country road before midnight. He refused to give a name.
Lokman Slim colleagues can be seen at his home in Beirut and the headquarters of his UMAM Documents and Research group, following his Feb. death. 4, 2021
(Photo: AFP)
Slim’s killing shocked Lebanon, and many feared his return to political violence. Lebanon has a history of political crime and violence, but it has been years since such killings took place.
With tensions rising amid growing political controversy and economic crisis, officials have warned they will return to political violence and assassination.
Slim wife of Monika Borgmann, a German national, and his sister Rasha al-Ameer had posted earlier on social media that Slim had not answered his phone for hours and had not been seen since Wednesday night.
Al-Ameer said she learned about Slim’s death from news reports because she was filing the form of a missing person. She admitted that Hezbollah was behind the killing, without naming the group.
When asked if she is accusing anyone in particular, his sister said the killers “have affected themselves.”
She said the ruling party knows the area where her brother was killed, “saying,” killing for them is a practice. ”
Rasha al-Ameer, the sister of the famous Lebanese activist Lokman Slim, speaks from her home in Beirut after her death on Feb. 4, 2021
(Photo: AFP)
Hezbollah’s relatives control the area south of the city of Sidon where his car was found.
The circumstances of Slim’s death were not clear and a security official in Beirut said an investigation is underway to find out what happened.
Interior Minister Mohammad Fahmi, speaking to local TV station MTV, said it was “a terrible crime.”
For many, narrow killings have frightened the return of a culture of persuasion where few, if any, are held accountable for violence or corruption. His killing comes six months after a massive explosion in the port of Beirut that killed 211 people and destroyed the capital. The cause of the explosion and who is responsible for this location have not yet been investigated.
EU Ambassador to Lebanon Ralph Tarraf tweeted that he was shocked and embarrassed by a narrow kill, saying it was a murder.
“We mourn the current culture in #Lebanon in which such strong actions are taking place and demand a proper investigation by the competent authorities,” Tarraf said.
French ambassador Anne Grillo also claimed murder, sending her condolences to the family in a tweet.
Caol was born in the suburbs of Beirut. The voice continued to criticize Hezbollah living with a family in the periphery, which is a stronghold of the group.
There, he founded and ran Umam, a film research and production house where he had a major library covering Lebanese and Shiite history. His family owns a publishing house and Slim hosted public debates and political forums and art exhibitions, including exhibitions documenting what was needed in the war.
In 2009, he opposed authorities and Hezbollah by holding a rally at his venue to show Waltz with Bashir, an Israeli animated film about the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon and the rise of Bachir Gemayel who became its leader. was sitting at the time and was so murdered in September that year.
Slim was also politically active, founding in 2005 Haya Bina, or Let’s Go, a group that encouraged participation in parliamentary elections and called for changes to Lebanon’s sectarian system.
“It’s a great sadness,” said Makram Rabah, a close friend and history lecturer. “Anyone who knows Lokman knows who the enemies are.”
Protesters hold pictures of Lokman Slim outside the Palace of Justice in Beirut after his assassination, Feb. 4, 2021
(Photo: Reuters)
Rabah said that he and Caol had strong opposition from Hezbollah’s grip on power and demanded sovereignty and diversity in Lebanon.
They were attacked by a group of young men in a public debate at the height of anti-government protests in 2019. Narrow at the time blamed Hezbollah’s supporters for being behind the attack.
Slim also accused Hezbollah supporters of threatening him at his home, holding rallies and hanging posters on his walls accusing him of treason.