by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – Pascal Sleiman, a well-known senior figure in Lebanon’s Christian Lebanese Forces (CLF) party was abducted and shot dead in the country’s Byblos area last week. The news has caused outrage in Lebanon’s Christian community.
An IT expert who worked for Byblos Bank, Sleiman was an outspoken opponent of the Hezbollah Shia Islamic terror organization which controls much of Lebanon. Sleiman went missing after being ambushed by several assailants while driving from a condolence visit in Byblos on April 7. His body was found in Syria by Syrian soldiers on April 9.
While four Syrian nationals were arrested for killing Sleiman, a number of experts believe Hezbollah ordered the killing as an example to Lebanon’s Christian community to cease resisting them and to join them in their war against Israel.
Soon after news broke of Sleiman’s death, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah attacked Lebanese Christians in a broadcast statement, saying: “[The Christians] are not people of truth, nor are they people of truth, nor are they people of justice and they do not care about the national interest, civil peace, or anything. They are people of strife and seek civil war.”
In a statement to CBN News, Sarit Zehavi of the Alma Research and Education Center said: “The basic goal of Hezbollah is to distribute the Islamic revolution and to take over Lebanon and to establish an Islamic state in Lebanon. War in Israel serves this goal.”
However, amid rising tensions between Syrian refugees and local Lebanese, Lebanon’s security forces claimed a gang of Syrian refugees had killed Sleiman during an effort to steal his car. Soon after the killing, Lebanon’s Interior Minister called for an end to the presence of Syrians in the country.
Copyright 1999-2024 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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