Lebanon has requested the arrest and extradition of two Syrian nationals suspected of involvement in the killing of former Iraqi parliamentarian Ahmed al-Alwani. His body was discovered on Tuesday evening in an apartment in Beirut’s Tariq al-Jdideh neighbourhood, according to Lebanese media.
A Lebanese judicial source told AFP that preliminary findings suggested al-Alwani had been strangled. The source said investigators at the Public Prosecutor’s office had sent the request to Damascus, although the identities of the two Syrian suspects had yet to be determined. A Lebanese national has also been arrested and is being questioned.
The perpetrators and their motives remain unclear. Sources told AFP that the initial investigation had revealed a possible financial angle. Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that the Information Branch of the Internal Security Forces was conducting the inquiry under the personal supervision of the country’s top prosecutor, Judge Ahmed Rami al-Hajj.
Details provided by Iraqi officials outlined al-Alwani’s movements after reaching Lebanon. Lieutenant General Saad Maan, head of the Iraqi Security Media Cell, said he arrived from Erbil on a Middle East Airlines flight on the evening of November 5 and was taken to a hotel. Maan is following the investigation in Lebanon.
Speaking to the Iraqi News Agency, Maan said al-Alwani left the hotel less than an hour after checking into his room, telling reception staff he was going out with friends. Staff later told investigators that his companions spoke with a Syrian accent. The agency reported that he departed in a white Range Rover and subsequently called relatives in Iraq twice before contact with him was lost.
Iraqi President Nizar Amedi urged a swift investigation to establish the circumstances of the killing and identify those responsible. His call followed a meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam in Turkiye on Wednesday. Iraq’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mohammed Reda al-Husseini, said on Tuesday that the embassy was closely monitoring the case and awaiting the Lebanese security agencies’ final report.
Al-Alwani, a Sunni politician from Ramadi, previously represented Anbar province in Iraq’s parliament. He became prominent during the 2012 and 2013 protests against the Shia-led government of then-Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whose critics accused him of pursuing sectarian policies that marginalised Sunnis.
He also openly opposed Iranian influence in Iraq and Iranian-backed Shia armed groups. Iraqi security forces arrested him during a raid on his Ramadi home in December 2013. His brother and several other people were killed during the operation.
In 2014, al-Alwani received a death sentence on terrorism charges. He spent more than a decade in prison before being released in April 2025 under Iraq’s General Amnesty Law.
