Ahmed al-Alwani killing: Iraq to send team to Lebanon

Iraq will send a specialised security delegation to Lebanon to support the investigation into the killing of former Iraqi lawmaker Ahmed al-Alwani in Beirut, an Iraqi security official said Wednesday.

Alwani, a former Sunni Iraqi politician, was found strangled to death in a Beirut apartment on Monday night. Another Iraqi official said the motive remained unclear.

A Lebanese judicial official said initial findings showed that three people were involved, including two foreign nationals who fled to Syria. The official said their identities had not yet been determined.

The Lebanese official said a third suspect, a Lebanese national, had been detained and was being interrogated. The official added that Alwani had been lured in a “highly calculated” operation, with suspects renting an apartment for him and taking him there directly from the airport.

Alwani was sentenced to death in Iraq in 2014 for the murder of two soldiers, but was released from prison last year. He came from a prominent Sunni tribe in Iraq's Anbar province and supported a 2013 Sunni-led protest movement against the Shia-dominated government.

Alwani's media office said he arrived in Beirut on November 5 and that his last call with his team took place after he reached the apartment from the airport. Iraqi President Nizar Amede called Wednesday for a swift investigation to determine the circumstances of the killing and identify the perpetrators.