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A preliminary investigation into the killing of Lebanese Forces official Pascal Sleiman found it had no apparent political motive, a Lebanese security source told The National on Tuesday – despite the party's assertions that it was a “political assassination”.
“According to our investigation, there was nothing political about this. Nothing so far lends us to believe there was any sort of political motivation,” the security source said.
The Lebanese Army said a Syrian gang had kidnapped and killed Mr Sleiman, a local co-ordinator in the Jbeil area, north of Beirut, for the Christian Lebanese Forces party, which opposes Hezbollah.
A military official told The National that seven Syrian suspects were arrested on Tuesday, four accused of being directly involved in Monday's apparent carjacking gone wrong and three for supporting them.
The army investigation found that “the kidnapped person was killed by [the gang] while they were trying to steal his car in the Jbeil area, and they transported his body to Syria”.
But a Lebanese Forces official told The National that the results of the army's investigation were “incoherent.”
“We’re not going to entertain the story. It’s incoherent and several elements don’t make sense,” he said. “To us this is not the truth and we are still pushing to know the truth. As far as we are concerned it’s a political assassination.”
He cited the killing of former Lebanese Forces official Elias Hasrouni, who died last year in what appeared to be a car crash but was later revealed, after an autopsy, to have been murdered.
“When [Mr Sleiman's] body arrives in a bit, it will undergo an autopsy and we will find out if the story matches up or not,” the official said.
The security official told The National that Syrian authorities had handed over three of the suspects and added that Mr Sleiman's body was expected to be repatriated to Lebanon later on Tuesday.
The suspects told the investigators that Mr Sleiman had been driving along an area of Jbeil that was known as a “zone” for car theft.
“They had tried to take two other cars but they drove off too quickly. But when they got to Pascal he stopped and they caught him by surprise. He tried to resist,” the official said.
A physical altercation resulted in Mr Sleiman's death from internal bleeding, after which, according to the military official, the burglars crammed Mr Sleiman into the boot of his own car and decided to continue to Syria in an attempt to avoid detection.
Lebanese Forces supporters briefly closed the roads in Jbeil on Monday evening, with some accusing the Iran-backed Hezbollah group of a politically-motivated murder. The party said “what has been leaked so far about the motives of the crime does not seem consistent with the reality of the situation”.
Hezbollah has been engaged in near daily cross-border exchanges of fire with Israel in southern Lebanon since the outbreak of war in Gaza. The clashes have gradually increased in intensity and scope, leading to fears of an all-out war.
Lebanese Forces has been vocal in its criticism of Hezbollah's involvement in the conflict.
The militant group has often been accused of attacking its opponents, including officials from or aligned with Lebanese Forces.
In a speech on Monday, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah dismissed the accusations and denied his group was involved. He accused those blaming Hezbollah of stirring up “very dangerous” sectarian tensions.
Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the killing, adding that “in these difficult circumstances, we call on everyone to exercise self-control, be wise, and not be drawn into rumours and emotions”.
Sheikh Ahmed Qabalan, Lebanon's top Shiite cleric who is also close to Hezbollah, criticised the killing while calling for calm to avoid inflaming sectarian tensions.
Mr Sleiman's killing also triggered a backlash against Syrian refugees. Footage posted online showed groups of Jbeil residents attacking people identified as Syrians.
The status of the estimated 1.5 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon remains a deeply sensitive topic, particularly in a country that since 2019 has been engulfed in one of the worst economic crises in modern times.
Lebanese politicians regularly call on Syrians to return to their country.
On Tuesday, caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi called for restraint and a reduction in the number of Syrians in Lebanon.
“We are seeing more crimes committed by Syrians,” Mr Mawlawi said after a meeting with security and military officials.
He said about 35 per cent of detainees in Lebanon’s prisons were Syrian.
“The Syrian presence in Lebanon must be limited and we emphasised to the security forces the need to strictly enforce Lebanese laws on displaced Syrians.”
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
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Brief scores
Toss India, chose to bat
India 281-7 in 50 ov (Pandya 83, Dhoni 79; Coulter-Nile 3-44)
Australia 137-9 in 21 ov (Maxwell 39, Warner 25; Chahal 3-30)
India won by 26 runs on Duckworth-Lewis Method
Read more from Johann Chacko
HAJJAN
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ADCC AFC Women’s Champions League Group A fixtures
October 3: v Wuhan Jiangda Women’s FC
October 6: v Hyundai Steel Red Angels Women’s FC
October 9: v Sabah FA
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Roll of honour 2019-2020
Dubai Rugby Sevens
Winners: Dubai Hurricanes
Runners up: Bahrain
West Asia Premiership
Winners: Bahrain
Runners up: UAE Premiership
UAE Premiership
}Winners: Dubai Exiles
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes
UAE Division One
Winners: Abu Dhabi Saracens
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes II
UAE Division Two
Winners: Barrelhouse
Runners up: RAK Rugby
Emirates Cricket Board Women’s T10
ECB Hawks v ECB Falcons
Monday, April 6, 7.30pm, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
The match will be broadcast live on the My Sports Eye Facebook page
Hawks
Coach: Chaitrali Kalgutkar
Squad: Chaya Mughal (captain), Archara Supriya, Chamani Senevirathne, Chathurika Anand, Geethika Jyothis, Indhuja Nandakumar, Kashish Loungani, Khushi Sharma, Khushi Tanwar, Rinitha Rajith, Siddhi Pagarani, Siya Gokhale, Subha Srinivasan, Suraksha Kotte, Theertha Satish
Falcons
Coach: Najeeb Amar
Squad: Kavisha Kumari (captain), Almaseera Jahangir, Annika Shivpuri, Archisha Mukherjee, Judit Cleetus, Ishani Senavirathne, Lavanya Keny, Mahika Gaur, Malavika Unnithan, Rishitha Rajith, Rithika Rajith, Samaira Dharnidharka, Shashini Kaluarachchi, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi, Vaishnave Mahesh
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
more from Janine di Giovanni
SPECS
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In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Abaya trends
The utilitarian robe held dear by Arab women is undergoing a change that reveals it as an elegant and graceful garment available in a range of colours and fabrics, while retaining its traditional appeal.
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
How to come clean about financial infidelity
- Be honest and transparent: It is always better to own up than be found out. Tell your partner everything they want to know. Show remorse. Inform them of the extent of the situation so they know what they are dealing with.
- Work on yourself: Be honest with yourself and your partner and figure out why you did it. Don’t be ashamed to ask for professional help.
- Give it time: Like any breach of trust, it requires time to rebuild. So be consistent, communicate often and be patient with your partner and yourself.
- Discuss your financial situation regularly: Ensure your spouse is involved in financial matters and decisions. Your ability to consistently follow through with what you say you are going to do when it comes to money can make all the difference in your partner’s willingness to trust you again.
- Work on a plan to resolve the problem together: If there is a lot of debt, for example, create a budget and financial plan together and ensure your partner is fully informed, involved and supported.
Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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Pearls on a Branch: Oral Tales
Najlaa Khoury, Archipelago Books
Reading List
Practitioners of mindful eating recommend the following books to get you started:
Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life by Thich Nhat Hanh and Dr Lilian Cheung
How to Eat by Thich Nhat Hanh
The Mindful Diet by Dr Ruth Wolever
Mindful Eating by Dr Jan Bays
How to Raise a Mindful Eaterby Maryann Jacobsen
