Demonstrators protesting the repatriation of the body of a former SLA militiaman in Abdeh, Akkar, May 29, 2023. (Credit: Michel Hallak)
BEIRUT —A former Lebanese militiaman of the South Lebanon Army (SLA) who recently passed away in Israel, was buried on Tuesday in the village of Hakour in Akkar (North Lebanon), despite backlash from residents of the area, L'Orient-Le Jour's Akkar correspondent reported.
On Monday, the body of Mounir el-Cheikh, 85, was stored in the morgue of a hospital in North Lebanon. A decision concerning the man's burial was left pending after residents of Akkar held a demonstration in Abdeh to protest his posthumous repatriation, Lebanese Red Cross Secretary General Georges Kettaneh told L'Orient-Le Jour.
The funeral took place on Tuesday in the presence of a few members of el-Cheikh's family.
The SLA was formed in 1976 and consisted of defected Lebanese army soldiers that received support from Israel, notably during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in June 1982 as part of Operation Peace in Galilee. With the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon's south in 2000, SLA fighters, fearing reprisals, opted for exile and many settled in Israel. Around 7,500 Lebanese, some of whom were accused of collaboration with Israel for fighting with the SLA, or for working on the other side of the border, now live in Israel.