“International sponsorship” for Lokman Slim’s funeral, and vowed to hold those responsible for his murder accountable

The funeral and tribute ceremonies for Lebanese researcher and editor Luqman Salim were surrounded by exceptional international patronage. A crowd of ambassadors from foreign countries, led by the American ambassador to Lebanon, Dorothy Shea, arrived at the family home in the southern suburbs of Beirut. Hezbollah’s center of influence, and participants, including ambassadors, were dispatched to Britain, Germany, Switzerland, and Canada, with a message that international efforts are joining Lebanese demands for transparent investigation and accountability. of those responsible for the murder.
A week after he was found shot to death in the south of the country, Selim’s family organized a ceremony in honor of his deceased in the garden of his home in Haret Hreik, where they installed a monument to him. The ceremony, during which Muslim and Christian clergymen recited prayers, was attended by several Western diplomats and friends in the absence of official Lebanese representation.
Former MP Bassem Al-Sabe ‘, a native of this region and who left in 2009, yesterday described the international presence as a “civilized assault on the security plaza of Wilayat al-Faqih”, pointing out in a statement to “Asharq Al – Awsat “that” mashhadiya has international, Arab and Lebanese dimensions “:” I, as one of the people of this region, saw in the eyes of the people who lived in it that Luqman represented a role model and a role model for this, given that he was a popular man who sacrificed his life and insisted on constancy in the area called South Suburb ”.
She described Saleem’s murder as “an unforgivable and unacceptable barbaric act.” She said: “Let’s also celebrate some of the characteristics that made Luqman what he was. He was persistent and tireless in his quest to achieve reconciliation among the Lebanese people and improve their freedom and integration.” What is correct “, a demand that” we were him, let’s not stop. “
“We will join you in demanding accountability for this horrible crime,” he added. We will do our best to continue his legacy, including continuing our partnership with the organizations he helped found. We are proud of these partnerships. “She promised,” We will preserve Luqman’s memory as we move forward to realize his vision. “
In addition to the US ambassador, the other ambassadors demanded an end to the culture of impunity prevailing in Lebanon. The German Ambassador, Andreas Kindle, stressed that “what happened last week” should not be forgotten, and stressed: “We want and need a transparent investigation and an end to impunity.”
In turn, the Swiss ambassador, Monica Schmutz Kergutz, stressed the importance of “responsibility”. He said his country “lost a friend,” but that it will continue to support the projects it has worked on. He noted that Luqman and his wife began writing the history of Lebanon 5 years ago, and that Switzerland is a partner of theirs in supporting them.
Salim was a custodian of cultural institutions and was one of the first Shiite figures to cooperate with the American Development Agency in 2009 to provide cultural services in the heart of the suburb, especially the “English for women” project implemented by the “Let’s Sea” association. that he founded. Several Western embassies have also provided financial support for projects documenting the memory of the war and the missing. Ambassadors from foreign countries promised to continue cooperation and support for their institutions.
In a short speech, Luqman Saleem’s mother, Egyptian researcher and journalist Salma Mershaq, blamed the youth and her son’s companions for “building a country suitable for you and Balqman,” adding: “I ask you young people, if they really want a nation, that you follow the principles for which it fights and is convinced. ”She said:“ Do not use anything but reason and logic. Arms do not benefit the country, nor do I as a mother, my son was lost. “
The family placed a marble plaque in the middle of their garden in memory of Luqman, attached to the verse of Al-Mutanabi, in which he said: “I stood up and what is in death is doubtful for the one who stands as if you were on the eyelid of evil while he sleeps. “
Notable Western diplomatic presence
The presence of the American ambassador in the depths of the southern suburbs is rare, and some have favored it to be a message that opponents of the party are not abandoned and are receiving international sponsorship, although other personalities reduce this possibility, calling to wait. the future to confirm this hypothesis.
In a statement to Asharq Al-Awsat, Al-Sabe` does not see the international patronage of the Shiites opposed to “Hezbollah” in the suburb, considering that they “have been abandoned for many years, and are real guerrillas, but as a whole. They are opinionated, writers and intellectuals … they may not have prayed. ” To the popular situation in the region, but they have an opinion, and part of the feeling of the region.
Sabaa points to “an unprecedented incitement campaign in the media and social networks to which these young people who express their pen and voice and the research centers they opened, are exposed to attacks of this type that amounted to the murder of Salim.” And it highlights that the responsibility “falls on the Shiite leaderships, both political and religious, to communicate with their audience within their environment and explain the reasons for reaching that state of hostility with oneself and with others.”