The Lebanese Army Directorate of Orientation confirmed on Monday evening that the Intelligence Directorate was able, after a security follow-up, to arrest most of the Syrian nationals of a gang that participated in the kidnapping of Lebanese Forces coordinator in Jbeil Pascal Sleiman on Sunday.

"Following up on the case of Pascal Sleiman, who was kidnapped, the army intelligence directorate was able to arrest most Syrian gang members involved in the kidnapping," the Lebanese army said in a statement on X.

The Directorate said in a statement that it became clear during the investigation with the gang that the kidnapped man was killed by them while they were trying to steal his car in the Jbeil area and that they transferred his body to Syria.

"The kidnapped person was killed by them [the gang] while they were trying to steal his car in the Jbeil area, and they transported his body to Syria," the army added.

As the victim was resisting the attackers, one assailant hit him with a blunt object on the head and he bled to death.

متابَعةً لموضوع المخطوف باسكال سليمان، تمكنت مديرية المخابرات في الجيش من توقيف معظم أعضاء العصابة السوريين المشاركين في عملية الخطف. وتبين خلال التحقيق معهم أن المخطوف قُتِل من قبلهم أثناء محاولتهم سرقة سيارته في منطقة جبيل، وأنهم نقلوا جثته إلى سوريا.
تنسق قيادة الجيش مع… pic.twitter.com/QDnJWc5mTo

— الجيش اللبناني (@LebarmyOfficial) April 8, 2024

The Directorate stated that the Army Command "is coordinating with the Syrian authorities to hand over the body, and it is also completing the investigations under the supervision of the Public Prosecution Office."

The command retrieved Sleiman's car from Syria, adding that coordination with the Red Cross was underway to retrieve the victim's body from a hospital in Homs.

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Lebanese parties' comments on the Incident

In a speech earlier Monday, Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah denied the party was involved in the kidnapping and accused those blaming the party of stirring sectarian strife.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the crime of killing the LF official Sleiman, stressing that the competent parties were still carrying out investigations in order to uncover the full circumstances behind the kidnapping and killing and find the culprits in order to bring them to justice.

He called, in a statement, for self-restraint and wisdom, and not to be carried away by rumors and emotions so as to not jeopardize national security.

The statement explained that the security services started their investigations and inquiries as soon as news of his potential kidnapping broke out in order to uncover the perpetrators and those involved in the crime and return the victim to his family safely, but the kidnappers proceeded to murder him.

The head of the Marada Movement, Sleiman Frangieh, condemned the killing of Pascal Sleiman, stressing that it was a cowardly criminal act and called for taking all legal measures.

The Progressive Socialist Party also condemned Sleiman's murder, calling for awareness of the danger of dragging the country into the unpredictable.

The Grand Mufti of Lebanon, Ahmad Qabalan, condemned the crime and stressed the need to prevent any sectarian or political discourse that leads to a national catastrophe.

In turn, Lebanese Defense Minister Maurice Slim condemned the killing, calling on all concerned to work on self-restraint and their reactions, stressing that justice will take its course in light of the ongoing investigations that will reveal all the details.

The Lebanese Forces called for further investigations and claimed that the crime was not a mere homicide but a political assassination, alleging that the claimed motives did not seem to be in line with the truth of the matter.