The four victims. (Credit: Ani)
BEIRUT — Following the arrest of Hassan Fayad, the main suspect in the killing of a mother and her three daughters in Ansar, South Lebanon, a second suspect, Hassan Ghannash, 21, was arrested Sunday night by the Lebanese Army Intelligence services, a spokesperson for the Lebanese Army told L’Orient Today.
Here’s what we know:
• The spokesperson declined to comment on Ghannash’s relation to the murder saying “an investigation is ongoing on the matter.” The spokesperson also said that Ghannash along with Fayad were the last people to see the family and that’s why Ghannash is a suspect.
•The Lebanese Army spokesperson also explained that the Lebanese Army lured Ghannash to the Lebanese-Syrian border where he was arrested. He also declined to comment on the details of the sting operation.
• The ex-wife of Ansar’s mokhtar (local official responsible for records), Zakaria Safawi, and his three daughters aged 16, 20 and 22, were found dead last Thursday, 25 days after their disappearance.
• The South and Nabatieh intelligence branches conducted investigations after the four women were reported missing, which led to the arrest of Fayad, who later confessed to the killings. According to the Army statement, the suspect confessed to kidnapping the women with the assistance of an accomplice and transporting them to a cave, where they were murdered.
• Fayad admitted that he buried the family in a citrus orchard between the towns of Zararia and Ansar, the NNA reported.
• The circumstances of the crime are still under investigation.
CORRECTION: This article originally erroneously reported that Zakaria Safawi's widow was murdered; the victim was in fact his ex-wife.