Lebanese activist Lokman Slim (credit: Wikipedia)
By Gary Raynaldo DIPLOMATIC TIMES
The United States strongly condemned the “heinous” assassination of prominent Lebanese activist Loman Slim. The activist, who was a vocal critic of the Shia militant Hezbollah group, was gunned down southern town of al-Addousiyeh. Lebanon security forces found the body of Slim shot to death after he went missing Thursday night in the country’s southern region, which is said to be heavily controlled by the Iran-backed extremist group. Slim received four bullets to the head and one to his back, according to media reports. No one has yet claimed responsibility.
“The United States condemns the heinous assassination of prominent Lebanese activist Lokman Slim in Southern Lebanon. We join the international community in calling for his killers to be brought to swift justice. Mr. Slim devoted his life to bringing about positive change in Lebanon and bravely pushed for justice, accountability, and rule of law in his country. It is cowardly and unacceptable to resort to violence, threats, and intimidation as a means of subverting the rule of law or suppressing freedom of expression and civic activism.”
-U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken
Blinken said the U.S. is urging Lebanese officials, including the judiciary and political leaders, to hold accountable those “who commit such barbaric acts without delay or exception.”
Slim was a publisher and journalist, as well as a political analyst and activist known for being one of the leading Shia voices criticizing Hezbollah.
An obituary for @LokmanSlim, gunned down in south #Lebanon: an uncowable critic of Lebanon's (and #Syria's) oppressors, and a pillar of Lebanese civil society. In @aljumhuriya_eng https://t.co/y4atA0xZB8
— Alex Rowell (@alexjrowell) February 4, 2021
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