Preliminary investigations conducted by the Lebanese authorities into the killing of a Saudi citizen in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a stronghold of Hezbollah, showed that a dispute over “children’s custody” was behind the crime, a security source told AFP on Monday.
And the General Directorate of the Internal Security Forces announced in a statement on Sunday night, that the victim (born in 1980) was killed, on Saturday, by “stabbing with a knife.” As a result of the follow-up, it was found that “my murdered brother committed the crime for family reasons” before they fled. They were later arrested in an apartment in the southern suburbs of Beirut, and they confessed to interrogating them, “that they killed their brother for family reasons,” according to the statement.
The security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Maneh al-Yami, one of the founders of the Saudi opposition National Gathering Party, was killed inside his home in the southern suburbs of Beirut following a quarrel with his brother over child custody, according to initial confessions.
He explained that the victim married his brother’s ex-wife and demanded her right to custody of her three children, which her ex-husband refused. After a confrontation between the two brothers, the father of the children left the victim’s house before returning with his other brother and carrying out the crime.
According to the source, the Lebanese authorities are currently expanding investigations with the detainees to see if there are other reasons behind the crime.
The National Assembly, in a statement on its Twitter account, on Sunday mourned the death of Al-Mahdhel Al-Yami, who “was assassinated in thorny circumstances.” He said that “since the news of the assassination was received, the party has been seeking to verify its details and motives through various parties, in order to uncover the perpetrators involved directly or indirectly.”
Urgent – Assassination of the founding member of the party, Mana’ Al-Mahdal Al-Yami
mourns #National_Rally_Party One of its founding members, Mani’ bin Hamad Al-Mahdal Al-Yami, who was assassinated in thorny circumstances yesterday, Saturday in Lebanon, offers his condolences to the family of the deceased, his fans and his comrades inside and outside the party. pic.twitter.com/KQ9ozU2Czo
– National Assembly Party (@The_NAAS) July 10, 2022
He stated that al-Yami was known as a “political opponent of the Saudi regime” and contributed to the founding of the party during his stay in Lebanon. He explained that he and party members tried “to seek refuge in an alternative and safe country, and contacts have been made with the United Nations and with a number of countries to ensure asylum.”
The party includes in its ranks a group of Saudi dissidents residing in Britain, the United States and other countries.
In a tweet, on Sunday, the Saudi ambassador, Walid Al-Bukhari, praised the efforts of the Internal Security Forces to “uncover the facts and bring the perpetrators to justice.”
I highly appreciate the efforts of the Lebanese Internal Security Forces, with all its members and leadership, to uncover the facts and bring the perpetrators to justice in the murder of the slain Saudi citizen who was killed in the southern suburb of Beirut.
— Waleed A. Bukhari (@bukhariwaleeed) July 10, 2022
According to the Lebanese security source, the dead man has lived in the southern suburbs of Beirut since 2015 and is known for his opposition to Saudi Arabia and the war on Yemen.
Iran and Saudi Arabia are the two most prominent regional powers in the Gulf, and they are on opposite sides in most regional files, most notably the conflict in Yemen. Saudi Arabia is concerned regarding Iran’s regional influence and accuses it of “interfering” in Arab countries such as Syria, Iraq and Lebanon, and is concerned regarding its nuclear program and missile capabilities, according to AFP.