- Iraqi president, who met Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam in Turkiye, called for a swift investigation to determine the circumstances surrounding the killing
BAGHDAD: Iraq will send a delegation to Lebanon to support the probe into the killing of a former lawmaker in Beirut, a security official told AFP on Wednesday.
Former Sunni Iraqi politician Ahmed Al-Alwani was found strangled to death in a Beirut apartment on Monday night.
“A specialized security delegation will head to Lebanon to follow developments” in the case with the Lebanese security agencies, the official said.
Another Iraqi official said that the motives for the killing remained unclear.
A Lebanese judicial official told AFP that initial findings showed that three people were involved, including two foreign nationals who fled to Syria. Their identities have yet to be determined.
A third suspect, a Lebanese national, has been detained and is being interrogated.
The source added that Alwani was lured in a “highly calculated” operation, with the suspects renting an apartment for him and taking him there directly from the airport.
Alwani was sentenced to death in Iraq in 2014 for the murder of two soldiers, but was ultimately released from prison last year.
He came from a prominent Sunni tribe in the western Anbar province, and was a prominent supporter of a 2013 Sunni-led protest movement against the Shia-dominated government.
His arrest had further inflamed anger toward the government, which many Sunnis viewed as having marginalized their community.
Alwani arrived in Beirut on November 5, his media office said in a statement posted on his Facebook page.
It added that his last call with his team took place after he reached the apartment from the airport.
Iraqi President Nizar Amede, who met Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam in Turkiye, called on Wednesday for a swift investigation to determine the circumstances surrounding the killing and identify the perpetrators.



