On the morning of the 6-month anniversary of the Beirut Port explosion, Lebanon woke up to the tragic news of activist Lokman Slim’s assassination.
The 58-year-old commentator was a known opponent of the Iran-backed political and militant organization Hezbollah. He was found dead in South Lebanon with four bullets to the head and one in the back.
Prior to his killing, Lokman Slim was working on facilitating a Hezbollah defection, according to Lebanese-French journalist Mona Alami.
“The death of Shia anti-Hezbollah activist Lokman Slim was not a random killing. It was a cold-blooded execution,” she wrote in a piece for Al-Arabiya.
Alami revealed that she had met Lokman Slim on Monday, at his request, “to discuss a sensitive topic.” During the meeting, Lokman Slim informed her that he was in contact with a business associate of Hezbollah.
This unnamed associate was believed to be “heavily involved in money laundering activities for the party” and was also sanctioned by the United States.
He was “ready to defect in exchange for his extraction from Lebanon and protection from Hezbollah,” she reported.
Lokman Slim asked Alami for advice on how to give the defector what he was asking for. According to Alami, Lokman Slim considered that contacting the U.S. State Department of the Treasury would be the best bet.
While Lokman Slim may have known more than he should, he was oblivious to the fact that he would meet his fate only three days later. And Alami has a conviction that the mysterious defector will turn up dead next.
