Sheikh Ahmad Rifai. (Retrieved from Rifai's Facebook profile)
BEIRUT — Sheikh Ahmad Rifai has been killed, a spokesperson for Dar al-Fawta told L'Orient Today Saturday. The Sunni cleric from Akkar (North Lebanon) has been missing since Monday evening.
With conflicting reports circulating about Rifai's whereabouts, security forces could not confirm Dar al-Fatwa's statement, nor whether his body has yet been found. Video sent by L'Orient Today's North Lebanon correspondent showed Lebanese Army personnel consolidating its presence in the village of Karkaf, Akkar, Saturday afternoon, as it was feared violence would greet the news of the cleric's murder.
A source with knowledge of the case confirmed that some of the suspects detained in connection to the case had confessed to having committed the murder, and that their motive was family related.
As this story was being filed, contradictory information still surrounded the location of the sheikh's remains.
Security forces Friday arrested three suspects allegedly involved in Rifai's disappearance, a judiciary source told L'Orient Today. Army Intelligence and the intelligence branch of the Internal Security Forces raided the Karkaf area Friday night, Sheikh Rifai's hometown, the source said, and arrested three people, one of whom was released after questioning.
The ISF also raided Tripoli's Abi Samra neighborhood Friday, not long after the sheikh's car was found near Haikal hospital in the Koura region, with its license plates removed. Police dogs were used in the searches, which lasted until Saturday morning.
Investigations into the case are led by Samaranda Nassar, North Lebanon's lead investigative magistrate.
Earlier on Friday, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati had remarked that "new data — that have surfaced and are being confirmed — could help to shed light on all the circumstances of this case."
According to press reports, Rifai's latest prayer sermon addressed drug trafficking in areas under Hezbollah's influence.