BEIRUT: A prominent Lebanese activist and intellectual known was found dead in his car in the country’s south on Thursday, a security official said.
Lokman Slim, 58, had long been a leading secular voice in the community and was routinely targeted for criticism, and often threatened, over his anti-Hezbollah stance.
“He was found dead in his car, killed by a bullet to the head,” a senior security official said on condition of anonymity. Lebanese media also reported Slim’s death.
Security sources did not immediately elaborate on the circumstances of his death but Slim’s own sister said before his death was even confirmed that his disappearance was inevitably linked to his opinions.
“He had a political stance, why else would he have been kidnapped,” Rasha al Ameer said.
Slim was often criticised by Hezbollah supporters for being instrumentalised by the United States.
Lebanese social media erupted over the murder, on which many were already commenting as the latest in the long list of Lebanon’s political assassinations.
Slim had founded an organisation called Umam Documentation and Research aimed at archiving Lebanon’s violent past with the aim of raising awareness and preventing further conflict.
Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi, quoted in local media, called Slim’s killing a “horrible crime”. — AFP
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