Ahmad Shukr disappearance: Person of interest surrenders to authorities

A person of interest in the case of the disappearance of Ahmad Shukr, a former General Security officer who has been missing since Dec. 19, turned themselves in last Saturday and is currently under investigation, two sources, one from security and one judicial, confirmed to L'Orient-Le Jour.

According to a security source at Rafik Hariri International Airport, A.M. surrendered to authorities upon returning to Lebanon to clear his name, which had been raised in the case.

It is this man who allegedly arranged the meeting that Shukr attended on Dec. 19, as part of the supposed sale of a plot of land in Zahle.

The Shukr family accuses him of having participated in the abduction of the ex-officer.

According to sources at the media outlet Al Modon, A.M. is currently being questioned by the Internal Security Forces (ISF) at the request of the Office of the Public Prosecutor at the Court of Cassation.

The ISF declined to comment on the case for our publication, at the request of the Office of the Public Prosecutor at the Court of Cassation.

According to statements from the missing man's brother, Abdel Salam Shukr, secretary of the Higher Shiite Islamic Council, to several media outlets, the ex-officer and the suspect had been in contact over the rental of an apartment in Choueifat, and A.M. later served as an intermediary for the sale of a plot of land in Zahle with another individual.

It was during a supposed meeting on this land that Ahmad Shukr reportedly disappeared.

Last week, a judicial source confirmed to L’Orient-Le Jour that there are suspicions of a kidnapping attributed to Mossad, while the brother of Ahmad Ali Shukr is suspected of having been involved in the capture of Israeli pilot Ron Arad in 1986.

Judicial sources indicated to AFP that the ex-officer may have been “lured by two people of Swedish nationality” who arrived in Lebanon two days before his disappearance in a locality far from his home.

One of them reportedly left the country the same day he disappeared. The source contacted by L’Orient-Le Jour clarified that two Lebanese suspects are being sought, including at least one with dual Lebanese-Swedish nationality.

Ahmad Shukr is the brother of Hassan Shukr, who was a fighter in the group that captured Israeli pilot Ron Arad on Oct. 16, 1986, according to a source close to the Shukr family.

Ron Arad was captured during a mission amid the Lebanese Civil War.

He was initially held by Shiite groups in Lebanon and is now presumed dead, as his remains have never been returned.

His fate has concerned Israel for decades, where bringing home missing or captured soldiers is considered a national duty.