Cleric missing in Lebanon since 5 days killed by relatives

By BASSEM MROUE
Associated Press

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanese security officials say a Muslim cleric who went missing earlier this week was killed shortly afterward by some people from his northern hometown. The Sunni cleric, was last seen in the northern city of Tripoli Monday evening and his car was found days later in a village few kilometers south of the city. His family said they lost contact with him since. There were concerns that Rifai’s case would incite sectarian tensions in the deeply-divided country since he was a harsh critic of the powerful Shiite group Hezbollah. The officials said Saturday that the cleric had accused one of his relatives of corruption years ago who was detained as a suspect in the killing.