Seven Syrians Held Over Murder of Lebanon Politician

Lebanese security forces have arrested seven Syrians on suspicion of involvement in the murder of a local politician, a judicial official said Tuesday, amid a backlash against Syrian refugees.
Pascal Sleiman was the coordinator in the Jbeil area, north of Beirut, for the Lebanese Forces (LF), a Christian party which opposes the Syrian government and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah.
The LF said it would consider Sleiman’s murder a “political assassination until proven otherwise”, although the army said the politician had been killed for his car.
“The kidnappers admitted that their goal was stealing the victim’s car,” the official added.
The official said the suspects told investigators they hit Sleiman with pistol butts on the head and face until he stopped resisting. They then threw him in the boot of his own car and drove him to Syria. He died on the way there.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a body corresponding to the description of the victim had been dumped in an area near the border where Hezbollah holds sway.
“The body was wrapped in a blanket and had been hit on the head and chest with a hard object,” the Britain-based war monitor said.
On Monday, hundreds of residents blocked roads in Jbeil, with footage circulating on social media of violence against Syrians.
Ramzi Kaiss of Human Rights Watch said Beirut must ensure “that the investigation into the killing is thorough and transparent in light of decades of impunity in Lebanon for politically sensitive killings”.
On Monday evening, Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the killing and called for “everyone to exercise self-control”.