Naharnet

Security Agencies Pursuing Killer of Lebanese Man in Ain el-Hilweh

The killer of Lebanese national Marwan Abbas Issa, whose corpse was found two days ago in the southern Ain el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp near the city of Sidon, is still on the run, media reports said on Wednesday.

A security source told the An Nahar newspaper that security agencies are tracking down the killer, noting that the two men, who were arrested earlier in links to the case only lured Issa to Ain el-Hilweh's al-Fawqani street.

The Joint Palestinian Force handed over to the Lebanese army shortly after Issa's body was found on Sunday two Palestinian nationals, Khaled Kaoush and Rabih Serhan, suspected of being behind his murder.

The killer was identified by his initials M.Sh., the brother of a high-ranking Fatah al-Islam official in the camp.

Issa is the nephew of Nassif Issa, a prominent official at the Popular Nasserite Organization, which is close to Hizbullah.

The head of the joint Palestinian force, Maj. Gen. Munir Maqdah, told Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) that the higher security commission is following up the murder of Issa and any person wanted by the Lebanese security forces will be handed over.

The source said that the maltreatment of Issa's body indicates that the murder didn't occur over disputes on arms trade.

“Screws were planted in the victim's head and his hands and feet were tied to his neck,” the source revealed, adding that a slogan was written on his chest saying: “This is the price that those who are fighting Sunnis in Sham should pay.”

The source said that Issa was probably murdered for engaging in battles along Hizbullah ranks in Syria.

He was reportedly a member of the Hizbullah-affiliated Resistance Brigades.

Issa went missing on Saturday and was found killed inside a car's trunk in the Jabal al-Halib area in the Ain el-Hilweh camp a day after.

Ain el-Hilweh, the largest Palestinian camp in the country, is home to about 50,000 refugees who live in dire conditions and is known to harbor extremists and fugitives.

By long-standing convention, the Lebanese army does not enter the country's 12 refugee camps, leaving security inside to the Palestinians themselves.

H.K.

M.T.


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