After Iraq ex-MP’s killing, Lebanon asks Syria to extradite suspects

Detailed summary

Longtime Sunni politician and Iran critic was reportedly strangled in Beirut, sparking investigation.

Lebanese authorities have asked Syria to hand over two Syrians suspected of involvement in the killing of former Iraqi MP Ahmed al-Alwani, who was found dead in an apartment in Beirut earlier this week.

A Lebanese judicial source told the AFP news agency that preliminary findings indicate al-Alwani was strangled to death, but the perpetrators and motives remain murky.

Hailing from Ramadi in Iraq’s Sunni heartland, al-Alwani was a vocal critic of Iranian influence over Baghdad and had served more than a decade in prison after an initial death sentence on “terrorism” charges in his home country.

Investigators at the Lebanese Public Prosecutor’s office had asked Damascus to arrest and hand over two Syrian nationals, the source added, who are suspected of involvement in al-Alwani’s killing.

The source said the identities of the two suspects are yet to be determined, and that a Lebanese national had been arrested and is being interrogated.

In a separate case, the Information Branch of the Internal Security Forces is investigating five Hezbollah members who were arrested in the Batroun highlands in northern Lebanon, according to the public prosecutor’s media office.

The official National News Agency said Lebanon’s top prosecutor, Judge Ahmed Rami al-Hajj, is personally overseeing the investigation into al-Alwani’s killing, which is being carried out by the Information Branch of Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces.

Investigators are still trying to ascertain the possible motives behind the killing, but the initial inquiry reveals a financial angle, sources told AFP.

Al-Alwani’s body was found on Tuesday evening in an apartment in the Tariq al-Jdideh neighbourhood of Beirut, according to Lebanese media.

Opening of the article, excerpted from Al Jazeera. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.