BEIRUT: Lebanese security forces have arrested a Lebanese taxi driver for killing Rebecca Dykes, a British woman who worked at the British Embassy in Beirut and was found dead on the Metn Expressway on Saturday Morning.
The arrest was confirmed by the Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) correspondent. “The Information Branch of the Internal Security Forces managed to arrest the killer. He was identified as Tarek H., a taxi driver,” said the news agency.
The agency quoted its correspondent as saying that “Tareq had picked up Dykes on Friday evening from Beirut’s Gemmayzeh district where she was on a night out. He drove her from Ashrafieh to the Metn Expressway where he attempted to rape her. He then strangled her with a rope and threw her body away.”
The NNA correspondent said that the Information Branch managed to identify and arrest the killer — who admitted to the crime — after following his car on the Traffic Management Center’s road monitoring cameras between Ashrafieh and Nahr Al-Mot area.
According to a source quoted by Reuters, “the motive was purely criminal, not political.”
Dykes had worked at the British Embassy for the Department for International Development, her LinkedIn page said.
British ambassador to Lebanon Hugo Shorter said on Sunday: “The whole embassy is deeply shocked, saddened by this news.”
Dykes’ family said in a statement issued by Britain’s Foreign Ministry: “We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Rebecca. We are doing all we can to understand what happened.”
Killer of British diplomat in Lebanon arrested
Killer of British diplomat in Lebanon arrested
Palestinians have right to live in peace in ‘own land’: pope
- The two-state solution “remains the institutional framework that addresses the legitimate aspirations of both peoples. Instead, we unfortunately see escalating violence in the West Bank against Palestinian civilians, who have the right to live in peace on
VATICAN CITY: Pope Leo XIV has lamented rising violence in the occupied West Bank and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, saying Palestinians had the right to live peacefully in their “own land.”
“Sadly, there has been an increase in violence in the West Bank against the Palestinian civilian population, which has the right to live in peace in its own land,” said the US pope, adding that civilians in Gaza also should be assured “a future of lasting peace and justice in their own land.”
During his annual meeting with diplomats accredited to the Vatican to exchange New Year greetings, the Pope said the “humanitarian suffering of civilians continues despite the ceasefire announced in October, adding to the hardships they have already endured.”
He added: The Holy See closely follows every diplomatic initiative aimed at ensuring a future of lasting peace and justice for Palestinians in Gaza, for all Palestinians, and for all Israelis.”
The two-state solution “remains the institutional framework that addresses the legitimate aspirations of both peoples. Instead, we unfortunately see escalating violence in the West Bank against Palestinian civilians, who have the right to live in peace on their land,” he said.
“War is back in vogue, and a zeal for war is spreading,” Pope Leo said, warning that the “weakness of multilateralism is a particular cause for concern.”
“A diplomacy that promotes dialogue and seeks consensus among all parties is being replaced by a diplomacy based on force, by either individuals or groups of allies,” the pope said.
